Memories Within the Flames
by Lullaby121
Summary: Sequel to The Light Within and is currently being rewritten. Everything was changed. Chandra remembers however and tries to get her former comrades to learn how to get along again so they can rely on each other should something terrible happen. That is easier said than done though. Everyone else has lost their memories and with it their friendship.
1. Chapter 1

Phoenix opened her eyes. _Something's wrong. _She glanced around, "Well I'm still in my room." The room itself was rather empty. Swords and blades of various sizes and styles hung on the wall opposite her. There was an empty closet to her left and the wall to her right was bare. _Nothing seems out of place here but something feels wrong._

"Good morning Phoenix," Sea smiled as she opened the door.

Phoenix returned the smile, "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Sea cocked her head to the side, "Is something wrong?"

"Yes but I don't know what it is," Phoenix said. Frustration came across clearly in her tone.

"Oh," Sea nodded.

"Sea!" Shadow called from down the stairs, "You are supposed to be making sure nothing burns!"

"Sorry!" Sea darted down the stairs quickly.

Phoenix shook her head. _Freaking kids. They're so carefree even when the world is falling to pieces._ She got up and wandered slowly down the stairs.

"Hey Phoenix!" Locke waved at her.

"Hey," Phoenix waved back. She walked out the door.

"Where are you going?" Shadow asked curiously.

"I'm going to check something," Phoenix walked out the door. _Where was it again? I want to see if something changed. _She planeswalked. _There!_ She arrived, standing in the middle of the ruins of a once great city. "Something is definitely weird. Last time I was here the ruins weren't nearly this well-kept," she walked through the ruins, "and I officially have no idea where I'm going." _Oh well it's gotta still be here._

"Hey you!"

Phoenix turned, "What?"

"What are you doing here? It's authorized personnel only."

_This is where having Jace around would be really handy._ Phoenix turned and stopped the man in his tracks with an icy look, "Oh really? And I'm not authorized?" Her left hand and hair lit on fire giving her a frightening visage.

He stuttered, "I—I, uh, you can do what you like."

Phoenix nodded and walked away. _That was easy. _Eventually she found a set of stairs that led down, "Well since the archive thing was underground I'll look down there."

"Welcome to the Archives."

"Well at least one thing's the same." _That voice is just as annoying as ever._ Phoenix sat down in a chair, "What happened?"

"The timeline has been changed and therefore everyone's memories have been altered or completely erased."

"Then everything that happened has been undone?"

"No."

"What happened?" Phoenix rolled her eyes. _And it's just as vague as ever._

"Some events of the past you know have been undone and the people you know may not be as you remember them."

"What happened to cause that?" Phoenix asked. _My patience with your vague answers is running thin. You won't survive that._

"The past you know is unclear as it has been almost completely erased from all archives."

"Great!" _I'll just get answers a different way. _"Actually on second thought I should probably just observe," Phoenix sighed. _Meaning I have to find people._ "Archive thingy."

"Yes?"

"Where's…"_ Um, who should I find first? Well since it's a memory problem I should probably look for Jace. Jace._ "Where's Jace Beleren?"

"Jace Beleren? He is on Ravnica."

"Oh, okay. What is he doing? Well more like what has he been doing?" Phoenix asked.

"He has been working, though reluctantly, with Tezzeret on multiple things."

"Tezzeret?" Phoenix sighed. _So with the timeline change everything changed._ "What about Nicol Bolas?"

"The Dragon was presumably been destroyed and has not been seen or heard from since."

Phoenix cocked her head to the side. _Odd. So Bolas is still not present at the very least but Jace is working with Tezzeret?_ "So get Jace away from Tezzeret long enough for me to get him to remember what really happened and then get him to fix everyone else's memories?" _Oh no. That's going to be a lot easier said than done._

"That's not possible and the consequences of said action could be disastrous," the archive voice warned.

"Don't tell me what is and is not possible," Phoenix warned, "and I deal with disaster wherever I go."

"You could permanently alter everything!" the robotic voice showed the first trace of emotion ever.

"And? Maybe it's for the better."

"But—"

"You are starting to sound like the Jace I remember. Stop. No buts and I will be checking in with you again," Phoenix slammed her fist onto the table, "You are going to help me out with this and you are going to cooperate with me."

"Of course," it said submissively.

"Good," Phoenix nodded, "I'll be right back." She returned to the Lotus Inn on Ravnica. "FLAME!"

"Huh? Yeah what?" Flame jumped out of his skin.

"Good, I need to talk to Echo."

"She's in the basement."

"Okay," she walked down the metal staircase to the basement. _Well at least these guys didn't change._ She opened the door to the basement.

Echo glanced up, "Phoenix? You don't come down here often."

"I need a jumper," Phoenix paused, "I actually need you to modify it to be able to hold an entire archive plus a talking android thingy."

"Okay," Echo nodded, "It definitely wouldn't be the weirdest thing you've requested." She smiled, "Give me a couple days."

"Alright," Phoenix nodded. She grabbed Echo's arm and punched a 5 digit number into the gauntlet on her forearm, "You'll find me here."

Echo nodded.

Phoenix returned to the archive, "Alright, it'll be a few days so I'm just gonna hang here for a bit."

The archive nodded.

Phoenix sat at one of the computers, "Alright. So since there's a little bit of a wait I'm going to kill time by looking into everyone else." _Gideon!_ She typed Gideon's name into the search bar. "He's working with the Order of Heliod? Gross." Phoenix sighed. _Man? Am I completely screwed? My works cut out for me with Jace and Gideon let alone Elspeth and Ajani and Ral and everybody else. I wonder if Nissa's alive. I sincerely hope Lilianna isn't. Although if she is things could turn out differently. _"Archive, where's Lilianna Vess?"

"She is also working with Tezzeret."

"So she is alive," Phoenix sat back in the chair, "Go back to Gideon."

"Of course."

Phoenix continued reading, "Blah, blah, blah, this is so boring." _Hurry up Echo. I know it hasn't even been half a day but who cares?_ "Wait go back!" She scrolled back up to reread the paragraph she had skimmed. "Uh-oh. Archive, what's Tezzeret's little organization called?" Her voice was tense and hesitant.

"The Infinite Consortium," the archive stared simply.

Phoenix swallowed nervously, "This is really bad."


	2. Chapter 2

"What's bad, Dear?"

Phoenix turned in surprise, "Oh Kaechia. You startled me. Anyway I was just thinking on how difficult it'll be to achieve my current goal."

"And what is that?" Kaechia asked curiously.

"Fixing everybody's memories," Phoenix said confidently.

"I'm not sure there's a way to return their lost memories as they were never truly lost in the first place," the archive voice explained.

Phoenix glared at it, "Sure there is!"

"It may be right," the ice mage said steadily, "I know you want us to remember what you do but the thing is, with time being changed like the archive says it is; our memories were altered not lost. It was altered by the multiverse itself to keep everything in order."

Phoenix rolled her eyes, "So? I doubt I'll be able to deal with them if they can't get along."

"They don't have to have those memories in order to get along," the ice mage smiled.

Phoenix sighed, "I'm still going to try."

She nodded.

"So you actually believe what the archive said? About timelines being changed and stuff."

"It would explain what I perceive as odd behavior," Kaechia shrugged.

"So then how did I act before?" Phoenix cocked her head to the side.

"Well you had a penchant for trouble and a kind of confident thief-like attitude," Kaechia shrugged.

Phoenix leaned back in her seat, "That's not so bad I guess."

"You also weren't nearly as direct. You were a bit more sly," Kaechia chuckled, "And you didn't have any blond hair to speak of. It was all red."

"Sly? That's interesting," Phoenix smirked, "Given that I don't usually bother with manipulating anyone."

"But you can can't you?" Kaechia asked.

"Yeah," Phoenix shrugged, "I could if I wanted to and I'd probably require a little more practice."

Kaechia laughed, "You're looking for people you remember right?"

"Yeah, once I get something I need from someone."

"I'll help you then," Kaechia nodded.

"Seriously?" Phoenix smiled, "Alright. We're waiting here for a friend of mine." She lit on fire. When they died her hair was shorter and all of it was red. Her outfit was different as well. Chandra sighed, "I kind of miss the collar. I really liked that. And I'm not sure I can go anywhere in this outfit. This is awful."

Kaechia laughed, "You look fine. Although I will admit a collar would look nice."

Chandra growled, "I look like someone I used to know. We didn't get along too well." She sighed, "I'm so bored."

"How long do we wait?"

"A couple days," Chandra smirked, "But she has a habit of over estimating the amount of time it takes to do something so we'll probably have it by tonight." _Hopefully._

"Ah," Kaechia nodded, "You didn't really answer my question though. What's bad?"

"Oh that?" Chandra sighed, "Two of the people I'm looking for are a part of rival organizations so they already have a reason to hate each other."

"Well that's certainly going to make things difficult."

Chandra sighed. _I'm not entirely sure I trust her but there's only one way to find out if she's trustworthy. That's to trust her if and until she proves I can't._ "Just a bit." She growled in frustration, "Why are these boots so long anyway?"

"I don't know," Kaechia shrugged, "It's what you from this time wore. You kind of have to wear it for anyone to recognize you as who you are."

"Dammit," Chandra sighed. _I hate this outfit. I'd rather just wear a pair of pants and a shirt but no. I have to wear this! Who the hell wears skirts that are this short anyway?_ The first problem she had with it was that there was very little armor in the outfit. The skirt barely dropped to the middle of her thighs. Her boots were armored and went to just below her knee. She also had bracers. The gloves went up to the middle of her forearms and were black with obscure grey designs on them. The collar of her shirt was tighter on her neck than she'd like but impossible to loosen. Six chains of various lengths were attached to the collar. The red top was backless which frustrated her and wrapped around her neck under the collar in the front, "Who the hell wears something like this?"

"You'll be fine. I haven't seen you get too terribly hurt yet," Kaechia assured her.

"This is still a terrible outfit!" Chandra raged.

Kaechia laughed, "It's fine. You're immune to fire aren't you?"

"Well yeah but what about knives and swords and acid and everything that sucks about fighting?" Chandra snapped.

"I'm sorry?" Kaechia shrugged.

Chandra sighed, "I'm okay. I'll just get through this and then this outfit is going away…forever."

"You really don't like that do you?"

"Not particularly."

After a few more hours Echo showed up.

"Echo!" Chandra smiled welcomingly.

Echo shook her head, "That outfit is ridiculous."

"I don' care," Chandra snapped.

Kaechia raised an eyebrow.

"I know," Echo nodded, "That's why I don't point it out very often."

"Do you have it?" Chandra asked.

Echo nodded, "Here." She handed her the bracer. It had a keyboard set underneath a metal plate. A speaker and projector sat next to the keyboard. Four latches held it closed around her forearm. Chandra grinned, "Now we can get started."

"What exactly are you doing?" Echo asked.

"Fixing everything," Chandra shrugged. She looked at Kaechia, "We've got somewhere to go first."

Kaechia nodded.

Chandra led the way to Sun's Reprieve.

"I've seen this place before," Kaechia said, "I thought I saw a blond woman standing on the balcony."

"Good," Chandra let her wings spread from her back. _I hate the fact that I have to use mana for these now. That's not fair._ She sighed, "Oh well." She grabbed Kaechia's arm and lifted off into the sky.

"Since when did you have wings?" Kaechia asked.

"Since I could remember everything." Chandra landed in the courtyard, "You need to be able to get in here whenever you want without me constantly inviting you in."

"What do you mean?"

"It only allows the people that have claimed it and those they invite in. I need you to have claimed it also so to speak so I don't have to constantly invite you."

"Oh," Kaechia nodded, "Does it hurt?"

"Not terribly," Chandra shook her head.

"Okay," Kaechia nodded.

Chandra then led the way to Ravnica. It wasn't far from the Black Lotus Inn. _That means that either they're in the undercity or they've actually got quite the hold on Ravnica. _"Interesting." _Last time they were pretty far from the hotel. Intriguing. _"Hey. Can you stay with the inn?" she turned to Kaechia, "If the archive is right and we're dealing with an assassin then the situation might actually be too dangerous for you. Tell whoever is at the desk that Phoenix sent you to wait."

Kaechia nodded, "Of course." She turned and walked into the inn.

"May I ask why you did that? If the reports are true then you may not stand a chance against this assassin," the archive said flatly.

"Shut it. I know what I'm doing," Chandra dropped off the walkway, down onto an overhang and another walkway. She walked along that walkway normally and looked around. Shadow's map wasn't very helpful. It gave her a vague idea of where the building was. However a vague idea did not help her much.

* * *

**Okay so the third chapter is missing from my computer and I don't think I'm going to rewrite it. Basically what happens between this chapter and the next is Chandra finds Jace and picks Kaechia back up. Jace tries to leave though.**


	3. Chapter 4

Chandra landed in front of Jace. He was crouching on the ground and had obviously been in pain. She shook her head, "Didn't I tell you not to wander off too far?"

Jace glared at her silently.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Let's go." She got to her feet and held out her hand.

Jace stood without taking her hand.

The baby dragon walked up to her curiously. It turned back to him and made an odd kind of howl sound.

Kaechia caught up to them, "So according to the archive, it would be easiest to find Gideon on a plane called Regatha."

Chandra cocked her head to the side, "Really?"

Jace glanced at Kaechia curiously but rolled his eyes and kept his mouth shut.

"I don't want you getting into my head without my permission," Kaechia snapped.

Chandra smirked, "C'mon. We're going to go back to Sun's Reprieve and then we're going to spy on Gideon." She led the way back to the floating castle.

"Why are we spying?" Kaechia asked.

"Because I want to," Chandra shrugged.

"That's a little random don't you think?" Kaechia asked.

Chandra shrugged again, "That's fine."

"You are definitely a lot different from what I remember," Kaechia shook her head.

"That's alright," Chandra smirked, "You're different from what I remember."

Jace rolled his eyes but remained silent. The baby dragon hovered above him.

Chandra glanced at him, "And you don't have much of a choice but to come along."

Jace met her gaze silently. There was a hint of defiance and anger in his cat-like sapphire eyes.

Chandra smirked, "Let's go." She led the way to Regatha. Gideon was in a city that sat in the middle of a plateau. The sun sat in the middle of a cloudless sky. Kaechia smiled, "You still don't have a plan do you?"

Chandra shook her head, "Nope."

"We're screwed," Jace muttered.

Chandra glanced at him, "I haven't died yet and you won't die either."

Jace shrugged, "Alright." His tone was a practiced neutral.

Chandra laughed. She led the way into the city. She knocked out the guards at the gates and left them lying outside the city.

"You're going to get us in trouble," Kaechia whispered uneasily.

"No," Chandra grinned, "Well not until they're found anyway."

Jace rolled his eyes. _This is already a disaster. I hate this._ He tried to pull the golden metal band off his wrist. It glowed brightly and his wrist started to burn painfully. Jace stopped. _I figured that was pointless but it was still worth a shot._

"Now all we have to do is find Gideon without getting in trouble," Chandra walked down the street quickly. She was the only redhead present in the entire city.

Jace clenched and unclenched his fists. _Of course she's just going to walk right down the street. I swear she's insane._

Gideon glanced over his shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise, "Chandra?"

Chandra smiled, "Hi."

Gideon sighed, "You haven't gotten in trouble have you?"

"Nope," Chandra shook her head.

"Um sir," a guard said.

"What?" Gideon asked.

"The guards that are supposed to be guarding the gate are unconscious and one of them is missing their keys," the guard said.

Gideon glanced at Chandra, "That wasn't you was it?"

Chandra looked at him indignantly, "Of course not!"

_He's really stupid if he actually believes her. _Jace kept his head down and remained silent in an effort to not be noticed.

"Really?" Gideon asked, "You usually don't come talk to me unless you need me to bail you out of something."

"Do you really think I'd have to patience to bother knocking someone out?" Chandra asked, "It's a lot easier and faster to just burn someone to a crisp."

Gideon sighed, "That's true but still."

Chandra was obviously getting frustrated, "Just because something goes wrong and I happen to be in the area when it does doesn't mean I'm automatically involved!"

Jace glanced at her. _I guess what she's saying would make sense to someone that didn't know any better. She's a surprisingly good liar._

Chandra put her hands on her hips.

Gideon sighed, "Fine." He turned to the guard, "Just put another round of guards on watch. Their shift was almost up anyway."

He nodded and hurried away.

Chandra sighed, "Jeez. Anyway I came here to ask for your assistance."

"Did you get in trouble?" Gideon asked instantly.

Chandra gritted her teeth and clenched her fists by her sides, "No. I did not."

"Did you do something that would get you into trouble?" Gideon asked.

Chandra growled, "No. I didn't."

"Did you—?"

"Never mind!" Chandra snapped. She turned and stormed off, "I'll talk to you later." _Jeez apparently I'm quite the troublemaker but seriously? Just because it's happened every time before this doesn't mean he has to interrogate me!_ She scaled the closest part of the city wall and leaned against the other side of it, "That was pointless."

"He seemed adamant on making sure you weren't in trouble," Kaechia shrugged, "I mean it could have just been his way of looking out for you."

Chandra glared at her, "He didn't have to interrogate me!"

"At least one thing about you hasn't changed, "Kaechia chuckled.

Chandra sighed, "We'll come back when I decide I want to try dealing with his stupid questions again."

Jace glanced at her, "And that will be?"

"Some time later," Chandra shrugged.

Jace sighed. _I get the feeling I'm going to get a grand tour of the multiverse following her around. She's so scattered. It's like she thinks she has all the time in the world and she doesn't. No one does. It's annoying._

Chandra led the way back to Sun's Reprieve, "I'm done. He was an ass."

"You're still pissed off about that?" the dragon asked.

Chandra nodded, "Yes."

"You can talk?" Kaechia asked.

"It's just more fun to go 'rawr' in my opinion," the dragon nodded.

Chandra glanced at Kaechia, "Would you mind holding down the fort? I'm going to go see if I can't find a crazy lightning mage I remember being acquainted with."

"You called Gideon a friend and you're just acquainted with the lightning mage?" Kaechia asked.

Chandra sighed, "Let's just say I'm hoping he's not nearly as annoying as I know him to be."

Jace glanced at her in surprise. _She knows someone that annoys her? Of course I don't think that would be very hard. Gideon managed to annoy her rather easily._

Chandra led the way to Ravnica, "I honestly don't know whether or not he's here but this is the best place to check. He's a little attached to his guild."

Jace rolled his eyes.

Chandra entered the Izzet Guildhall.

"What would you be doing here ma'am?" A goblin asked.

Chandra glanced at it. Her hair and eyes lit on fire instantly, "Visiting someone. Got a problem?"

The goblin shrank instantly, "N-no! I don't have a p-problem with it at all!"

"Good," Chandra nodded. The flames died just as quickly as they had come, "Run along."

The goblin disappeared as fast as its stubby legs would carry it.

Chandra chuckled, "They've always been either stupidly fearless or entertainingly easy to intimidate."

Jace sighed wearily, "Can we go back and save this for later? I'm really getting tired of this."

"No," Chandra shook her head, "We have one more person to visit today."

_Dammit. I don't want to have to follow you around the entire multiverse looking for whoever this happens to be!_ Jace glared at her back as he followed her through the guild.

"Beautiful!" Ral grinned. Then a look of confusion crossed his face and he cocked his head to the side, "I don't know how I know you."

Chandra's eyes narrowed and she sighed in defeated, "I was really hoping he'd forgotten that stupid nickname."

"How do I know?" Ral asked, "Have we met before? I mean I would assume that if we had then I enjoyed spending time with you because I wouldn't have a nickname for you otherwise."

"Technically sure," Chandra sighed, "But you don't remember it."

"Okay," Ral nodded, "What can I do for you?"

"You can help me out with something," Chandra said.

"What's up Beautiful?"

Chandra clenched her teeth. _Don't blow him up here. You can destroy him once you get back to Sun's Reprieve. _"I need you to come with me and I'll eventually get around to explaining everything. I just don't really want to repeat myself so the explanation is going to have to wait."

"But if I leave unannounced then Niv'll—"

"So?" Chandra's eyes held a challenging shine, "But if you don't want to deal with the dragon then I understand." She turned to leave.

Ral cocked his head to the side, "Oh okay. If you're going to do it that way then sure."

Chandra grinned. _Yes!_ "Really?" she turned back to Ral, "You sure."

Ral nodded, "If you'll tell me your name."

"Chandra," Chandra smirked.

"Ral Zarek," Ral returned her look.

"Let's go!" Chandra led the way back to Sun's Reprieve.

"Who's this guy?" Ral asked.

"That's Jace," Chandra shrugged, "and this is Kaechia."

"Cool!" Ral nodded, "I'm going to assume that they both use magic."

Chandra nodded.

"What kinds?"

"Ice and," Chandra paused, "illusions."

Ral nodded, "And he's a telepath because I can feel him poking around in my head."

Jace muttered something under his breath.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Yeah, that too."

"How big is this place anyway?" Ral asked curiously.

"It's pretty big," Chandra shrugged.

Jace looked at her.

"Okay it's really big," Chandra smiled, "Plenty of room for just four people!"

"Yes," Ral looked around excitedly, "So I can just tinker in here?"

Chandra nodded, "Sure. You can have the northeast corner."

"So you're dividing the place up now?" Kaechia asked.

Chandra shrugged, "You can have whatever corner you want. I don't care. The northeastern corner is the one that is farthest from the main room. And when other people get here, namely Gideon, they aren't going to spend a lot of time outside of this area."

"For being a fire mage you're incredibly confident in your ability to predict other peoples' courses of action," Jace studied her carefully.

Chandra met his gaze confidently, "Why do you think you're wearing that bracelet?"

Jace's eyes narrowed, "Whatever." He turned away from and sat at the table. He stared at the wall and completely ignored the conversation the rest of them were having.

Chandra appeared in front of him, "You aren't moving from that table are you?"

Jace looked at her flatly. He didn't respond.

Chandra sighed, "Come on."

"Why?"

Chandra glanced at him over her shoulder, "Do you really think this place doesn't take into account the preferences of all of its residents?"

Jace looked at her sideways, "It's a building. It doesn't exactly have a consciousness."

"But it is designed to be able to make any of its residents no matter who they are as comfortable as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if it started cleaning itself when Gideon's here," Chandra shrugged.

"You seem pretty confident on him coming, Beautiful," Ral said uncertainly.

"He'll come," Chandra grinned, "It's easy."

Ral shrugged, "Okay."

Chandra grabbed Jace and dragged him up the stairs, "I'm just saying that there's a better place for you to be than that boring table staring at a dull bronze-brown wall."

Jace rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He reluctantly followed her all the way up the stairs.

"Now you aren't allowed to use this as an excuse to hide," Chandra opened a large set of double doors.

Jace's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. In front of him was a library. There were couches and a row of bookshelves filled to the brim with books of all shapes and sizes, "What? Wow."

Chandra grinned, "Knock yourself out." She flopped onto the closest couch, "I'm taking a nap."

Jace ignored her and wandered around the library. _I've never seen half these books. That's really weird because I've read every book of every library I've ever been in. This is crazy. How did she know I like libraries anyway?_ He glanced at her. His eyes narrowed, "Maybe you're not as crazy as I thought you were." _That doesn't mean she isn't crazy because she is._ He read the title of every book in the library before he even started reading them.

"Do you mind if I call you Snowflake?" Ral asked Kaechia.

Kaechia stared at him, "I don't like that one either."

"Well I do so it'll work," Ral nodded.

Kaechia glared at him, "Are you serious? That's rude!"

Ral smiled, "It's not that rude. It is my nickname for you after all. Beautiful didn't even get to choose hers. I just wanted your opinion."

"I've told you I don't like it," Kaechia sighed.

Ral shrugged, "It's better than all the other ones I've come up with and any more I come up with will just be worse."

"Then just call me Kaechia," Kaechia suggested.

"But that's boring," Ral sighed, "Everyone else will call you Kaechia."

Kaechia took a deep breath, "Fine. I won't stop you as long as you just call me Snowflake. That is the only nickname you are allowed to give me."

Ral nodded, "Of course." He smirked, "Cat Ears can have more than one though because he doesn't get a say."

"Cat Ears?" Kaechia asked, "That's kind of screwed up to call him that."

"He has cat ears," Ral shrugged, "I've never seen someone with cat ears before."

"So? It's pointing out something that makes him obviously different from everyone else," Kaechia explained patiently, "It's impolite."

Ral shrugged, "That's alright. I'll just call him Tails."

"That's worse because he only has one tail," Kaechia sighed. She shook her head, "You're hopeless."

Ral burst out laughing, "Oh c'mon Snowflake. Don't be like that."

"Well you are," Kaechia said.


	4. Chapter 5

Chandra opened her eyes, "I'm never sleeping on a couch again." She sat up and looked around. Jace was the only other person in the library. The doors were closed. The windows that were spaced unevenly around the room were all closed. The room itself was dark. Jace's little part of it was barely lit. _Of course it's not like he needs a lot of light. He's a freaking cat._

"I'm not a cat," Jace muttered, "I just happen to share some features with cats."

Chandra laughed, "Okay. Ral's going to give you a suitably cat like nickname though so I'd expect that instead of your name."

"Like I care," Jace shrugged indifferently.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "I'd tell him what you don't want to be called if I were you or he will try it."

"I don't care what he calls me," Jace snapped.

"Okay but then I'll remind you of that if you get pissed off because he called you something you didn't want him to," Chandra left the library.

"Where are you going?" Jace asked.

"Down stairs," Chandra shrugged.

Jace rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

Chandra laughed and left the library, "Don't spend too much time in here or I'm going to bring you down stairs."

"Like you could," Jace muttered.

"Try me," Chandra smirked and disappeared down the stairs.

Jace stared after her, "Two things. You weren't supposed to hear that and could you at least close the door when you leave?" He didn't wait for any kind of response knowing she wouldn't have heard him. He sighed and closed the door. Jace looked around quickly to make sure that he was the only one in the room now that she had left, "Okay." He sat back down and returned to the book he had been reading.

Chandra wandered down the stairs. There were suits of armor at the corners of where the staircase turned around on itself. Each piece appeared to be attached to every other. Scattered sporadically among the suits of armors were stone statues of various creatures including sphinxes, angels, and demons._ This place is different than I remember it. _"Oh well. Different is good. It still holds the same purpose it had before," Chandra shrugged and continued downstairs. When she stopped by the main room she saw Kaechia sitting on the couch messing with her nails…and a Ral shaped ice sculpture sitting in the middle of the room. Chandra burst out laughing.

"Oh hello," Kaechia smiled.

"What happened to Ral?" Chandra asked in amusement.

"He was being rude and wouldn't leave me alone when I asked him to," Kaechia shrugged, "He'll melt with time."

"Okay," Chandra smiled. _He's not dead and in no danger of dying so whatever._ She continued to the other side of the room. The castle had redesigned itself so Ral had the entire northeastern corner of the castle as one single room. The room was fitted with all the basics a tinkerer would need. Chandra smiled, "See." She patted the wall of the building, "I knew you always came prepared for your guests." She went back to the main room. Ral was in the beginning stages of melting when she reached it.

Jace walked slowly down the stairs, "I guess it's important for her to know but if she was really interested in finding out more about this place then she'd figure it out herself." _Actually probably not. She doesn't seem like the type to care about finding any bit of information before acting. She'll probably disregard it anyway._ He glanced up as he stood in the doorway of the main room. His gaze was drawn to the melting Ral ice sculpture. Jace cocked his head to the side. _What the?_ He shook his head, "Whatever."

"Hey Jace," Chandra smirked as he glared at her, "What's up?"

Jace sighed, "Here, read the page on the left."

Chandra took the book and read it, "That's really weird. So it's a part of a world that was literally destroyed."

"That means that you can call this place to any world in the multiverse and it will appear in the sky near you," Jace finished.

Chandra cocked her head to the side, "That makes life a hell of a lot easier."

Jace rolled his eyes, "That's all I came down here for." He disappeared back up the stairs.

Chandra watched him. _Is it just me or is he even more closed off than he was last time? He's more closed off. I'm not losing my mind._ Chandra's eyes narrowed, "At least there's time."

"Time for what?" Kaechia asked.

"Learning to get along with everyone," Chandra said, "Cause I get the feeling it's going to be a while and a long while at that."

Kaechia nodded, "I can understand why you would say that."

"Kallist," Lilianna called.

Kallist blinked and opened his eyes, "What is it? It's the middle of the night."

"We're leaving," Lilianna said.

"Why?" Kallist asked. He sat up and turned to look at her.

Lilianna looked past him to the open window, "With the redhead acting the way she is there will be a conflict. We're going to stay out of it and we can't do that if we're still here." She handed him a device similar to a bracer, "This will allow to travel to the worlds that are in its database."

"Really?" Kallist took it and looked it over. Most of it made no sense to him at all. There was a keyboard that only had numbers on it and a button that caused the keyboard to spring up. Kallist jumped as it popped up. Underneath was a map of the multiverse and each world had a set of numbers beside it. Kallist glanced at Lilianna, "Each world has a set of coordinates and the keyboard is used to enter in those coordinates."

Lilianna nodded, "Then once you hit that button," she pointed to the button she was talking about, "it'll activate."

Kallist nodded.

Lilianna pointed to a world numbered 72490, "We're going here."

"That's really remote," Kallist commented.

"We're staying out of any conflict that arises," Lilianna repeated. _I'm not dying in this one. I'll make sure not to give her any reason to want me dead. Of course I'm off to a wonderful start since I had to steal the thing so Kallist could come along but whatever. That's not reason enough. Not even for her._ Lilianna nodded, "Meet me there." She planeswalked.

Kallist punched in the numbers and then hit the enter button. An odd tingling feeling crept up his body from his feet. The world around him started to fade away as a kind of mist clouded it out. Everything suddenly went black. Kallist jumped. _Okay this is one of the oddest sensations ever. I'm not sure I like it either._ He blinked and a completely different world surrounded him. Lilianna stood in front of him, "Well I see you made it."

Kallist nodded, "Yeah." He checked to make sure he still had everything he had had on his person before the experience.

"Everything's the same," Lilianna assure him.

Kallist nodded, "Alright."

Lilianna led the way to a small town that was nearby. She "borrowed" an empty house on the edges of the town.

"We're actually going to live here?" Kallist asked.

Lilianna nodded, "Until the conflict passes we're going to live here."

Kallist nodded, "Okay."

"Phoenix," Echo said.

Phoenix had dragged Jace to the Lotus Inn for something she didn't specify. Jace hung out in the corner of the room they were in. Inferno and Flame were tossing a grenade that may or may not be active across the room. Shadow, Locke and Sea were all downstairs looking after the inn part of the building. "What's up?" Phoenix asked.

"A jumper was stolen," Echo said, "Eclipse wanted you to know but he doesn't want you to go looking for it."

"Well that's good because I kind of have more pressing issues to deal with right now." _Yes! I don't have to hunt down another one of those stupid things! I hate doing that!_ Phoenix nodded.

Jace glanced at her and shook his head, "Whatever."

"Phoenix," Star said suddenly.

Phoenix turned to her, "What's up?"

"Can I have a word with you?" Star led her up the stairs and into one of the rooms that were used less frequently, "There's something wrong with Jace. I don't know what it is but he has this odd presence that isn't him in his head."

"Well damn."

"I'll let you know if I figure out what it is. I just wanted to tell you so you can keep an eye on him in case something happens," Star added.

Phoenix nodded.

Star grabbed her arm as she turned to leave, "It's been there long enough that he doesn't notice that it's there and it definitely doesn't have anyone's best interest at heart. Not yours not his."

Phoenix nodded, "I'll definitely keep an eye on him then."

Star nodded.

"Phoenix," Night called.

"What?" _Why does every single bloody person want my attention all of a sudden?_

"Is something wrong?" Night asked.

"No," Phoenix shook her head.

"Okay, well Lotus is here and she wants to talk to you about something," Night shrugged, "She refused to tell me what it was."

"Naturally," Phoenix rolled her eyes. She sighed, "Fine." She hurried back down the stairs. Lotus was waiting impatiently by the doorway, "Phoenix." Lotus led the redhead back up the stairs.

_I just came down these stairs._ Phoenix sighed, "Today is hectic."

"Phoenix there's something wrong," Lotus said vaguely.

"That's good to know," Phoenix muttered, "I'd be able to help better if I knew what was wrong."

"The dragon isn't destroyed," Lotus said suddenly.

"Well I figured that much," Phoenix said.

Lotus turned to face her, "I mean he's physically destroyed but his soul and spark were salvaged. That means he's a spirit that can possess people."

Phoenix's eyes narrowed, "That does make dealing with him inconvenient." _But then whoever he possesses would be connected to him. _She smirked, "But not really a problem conveniently enough." _It actually makes him easier to deal with. And if my hunch is correct then dealing with him is even more convenient._

Lotus sighed, "I still consistently think you're insane. I don't understand how you can look at this without being worried."

Phoenix looked at her, "I am worried but I am also positive that there's an answer to every single question and a solution to every single problem for those who look for it."

Lotus looked at her, "Really?"

Phoenix nodded, "Always. Even if that solution makes everyone around you think you're absolutely insane and going to die."

Lotus laughed, "Alright." Her face turned serious again, "And um, why is there a telepath in the room with Flame and Inferno?"

"He's kind of on a leash," Phoenix smiled. She winked at her, "Just don't tell anyone."

Lotus nodded, "I could feel him poking around in my head."

"He does that to everyone," Phoenix sighed, "At least everyone here is unreadable for one reason or another."

Lotus nodded, "Alright. Why are you working with him if you don't trust him?"

"It's not that I don't trust him," Phoenix corrected, "It's that I don't trust who could be eavesdropping."

Lotus' eyes widened, "You think—"

"Sh," Phoenix hissed insistently.

Lotus nodded, "Okay."

Phoenix hurried down the stairs, "Let's go."

Jace followed her out the door and into the main inn. _What was so important that they had to pull her out of the main room to tell her about it? Why can't I read any of them? Most of them are just blank. It's disturbing. I've never run into anyone other than her that's impossible to read._ Jace shrugged. _They are assassins after all. I guess mental defenses would be in their training. But then how are the younger ones blank too?_

Chandra rolled her eyes, "You're thinking pretty hard."

Jace glared at her.

She smiled, "C'mon don't be a jerk." She stopped, "We're going to talk to Gideon."

"You said we were just going to talk to your assassin friends and then go back," Jace muttered.

"I changed my mind."

Jace growled, "Fine."


	5. Chapter 6

Chandra followed Gideon around the multiverse for a little while before deciding to approach him, "Hey Gideon. What's up?"

"Chandra," Gideon nodded to her, "I'm fine."

"I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" Gideon glanced at her, "Did you get in trouble again?"

"NO!" Chandra yelled.

Gideon stepped back, "Alright. What is it?"

Chandra sighed, "I wanted to ask you if," she paused oddly, "you knew someone named Elspeth?"

Gideon shook his head, "No. I don't know anyone named Elspeth."

"Dammit," Chandra muttered.

"Chandra," Gideon started in exasperation.

"Shut it," Chandra snapped, "I don't care what anyone thinks of what I say."

Gideon sighed, "Okay, anything else? And you're positive you haven't gotten in trouble?"

Chandra looked at him from the corner of her eye. Her eyes narrowed, "I'm absolutely positive."

Gideon finally noticed who was standing behind her, "What are you doing here?" His tone betrayed his hostility and anger.

Jace remained silent but met his gaze confidently.

Gideon looked at Chandra, "What's he doing?"

"Chill," Chandra rolled her eyes, "the situation isn't exactly as simple as you might think it is. He's stuck and I'm guessing that if he could have avoided this he would have."

Jace glanced at her and rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

Gideon gritted his teeth, "Why is he here?"

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Because I brought him along. Happy now?"

"Why are you working with him?" Gideon asked, "You are in trouble aren't you?"

"Would you quit jumping to conclusions?" Chandra snapped, "I'm not working with him. He's working with me. There's a subtle difference."

"He's with the Consortium," Gideon responded. Chandra could tell that he was trying to keep cool. She wasn't going to bother, "And? You can't judge one person based off the actions of an organization!"

Gideon studied her carefully, "You're acting weird. Are you hiding something?"

Chandra gritted her teeth. _This is not going well. _The tips of her hair started to spark and flick and flames danced in her eyes.

Jace glanced at her then at Gideon. He shook his head before meeting Gideon's gaze, "I'd shut up if I were you."

Gideon glared at him, "I don't need advice from you."

Chandra took a deep breath, "That's enough."

Both of them looked at her. Chandra's face was hard and cold. Jace was surprised that she could look cold. She glared at both of them, "It's obvious that you two are at least acquainted with the organizations each of you are a part of but that doesn't mean that I'm going to allow the two of you to kill each other. That's a mess I don't want to have to clean up." She looked at Gideon. Her face and voice remained as cold as ever, "I am giving you two choices. You can come with me to Sun's Reprieve and promise not to kill anyone there, or you can continue to wander and I will continue to pester you until you do come with me to Sun's Reprieve. Your choice."

"I'm sorry," Gideon shook his head, "but I can't work with someone I can't trust." He glanced at Jace as he spoke.

Jace rolled his eyes. Then he smirked, "Your loss."

Gideon glared at him.

Chandra grabbed Jace by the back of his collar and dragged him away, "Keep your mouth shut."

Gideon couldn't help but smile as Jace snapped something he couldn't hear at her.

"Let me go!" Jace growled, "I can walk!" He tried to get free of her grasp but nothing he tried worked.

Chandra ignored him and continued walking.

Jace sighed, "Fine." He stopped struggling.

She finally let him go, dropping him coldly to the ground.

Jace grunted as he his head hit the ground. Chandra stood over him with a dark look on her face, "What the hell was that?"

Jace shrugged.

Chandra sighed, "Why do you two have such a problem with each other?"

"Like I'm supposed to know?" Jace sat up but refused to meet her gaze.

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "Oh really?"

"Sure," Jace muttered.

"Why aren't you looking at me then?"

"Maybe because I don't like the way you're looking at me," Jace shrugged.

Chandra resisted the urge to hit him hard in the back of the head. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth, "You're a prick."

"That's nice," Jace mumbled. _You're the one that decided to put this stupid binding artifact on me anyway. You're the one that dragged me along which technically makes your problems your fault._

Chandra sighed and shook her head, "Whatever. Come on."

Jace glanced at her in surprise, "That was fast." Her tone had changed completely. She had been angry just a second ago and now it appeared to be more annoyance than actual anger.

Chandra met his gaze, "Yelling at someone that's stubborn isn't going to change anything."

Jace cocked his head to the side.

Chandra smirked. She led the way back to Sun's Reprieve.

"You're not just going to call it?" Jace asked.

"What's the point? I mean it's not like we need it right here right now," Chandra shrugged indifferently.

"What took so long?" Kaechia asked.

"I decided to try talking to Gideon," Chandra shrugged.

Ral had finally melted and was sulking quietly on the couch.

Kaechia chuckled, "I see he's not with you."

"He was being dumb," Chandra rolled her eyes.

"If he's dumb then why spend so much time trying to win him over anyway?" Ral asked.

"Because he's important," Chandra shrugged, "Besides it's always fun to have someone that's easily annoyed around."

Jace disappeared up the stairs to the library.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "There he goes." _I'm starting to think this is hopeless. But even if I can't get them to remember I'm going to get them to get along._ She nodded before sitting on the couch, "So what'd you do while we were gone?"

"I finally melted," Ral muttered.

"And I notice you're sulking," Chandra added.

Ral shrugged, "Snowflake froze me and then let me melt slowly."

"You wouldn't be quiet when I asked you to which is rude," Kaechia shrugged.

Chandra sighed, "Everybody's just bright and shiny today aren't they?" She started fiddling with the archive bracer. _Even if I'm right about Jace I probably won't be able to do anything about it until something happens. Until the dragon makes his first move. I have to fill time. Great, I'll just waste my time trying to force strangers to get along. I'm really starting to think that restoring their memories of what had happened before is impossible. But then again I guess that that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things as long as I can figure out how to get them to get along. And Gideon is important in this. _She glanced up at the doorway that led to the stairs. _I have to find out how and why those two are connected the way they are. I doubt either of them is going to enjoy my prying. _

"You seem to be thinking deeply, Beautiful," Ral broke the silence.

"Just a bit," Chandra shrugged, "I'm just reevaluating my goals."

"Phoenix," Echo appeared in front of her.

"Jeez!" Chandra jumped, "What?"

"Eclipse has a new job for you," Echo smiled, "It'll be fun."


	6. Chapter 7

"This is stupid," Phoenix muttered. _I can't believe I'm doing this. _

"C'mon. You'll be making people's lives better!" Dawn urged.

Phoenix looked at her, "By making an absolute fool of myself."

Dawn shrugged.

"Why do I always get the weird jobs?" Phoenix whined.

"Hey!" Dragon snapped, "You aren't dressed up like a stupid lion."

"You don't have to say a word," Phoenix snapped.

Jace shook his head, "Why would you even bother dressing up in really weird costumes to deal with the guests of the inn?"

"Because it changes things up," Shadow shrugged.

"We do it every year," Sea added, "It's just we're all picked randomly to participate and this is Phoenix's first time."

"Shut it," Phoenix snapped, "I'm not dressing up as some helpless princess just to impress strangers."

"Then don't impress strangers," Shadow shrugged, "Do it to impress the people that you know."

Phoenix glared at her, "I'm not doing it for any of you either!"

"C'mon you'll look great," Sea insisted, "Besides you were picked fair and square. The roles are picked randomly too so it's not anyone's fault."

"I'm not wearing a dress!" Phoenix insisted.

"It's gold," Sea smiled.

Phoenix shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm still not wearing it."

"Eclipse is going to be mad at you," Shadow sounded as though she knew that threat wasn't effective.

"Like I care," Phoenix glanced at her, "He can sit and seethe."

Jace shook his head. _I can't believe the kind of stuff she does. I mean isn't Phoenix an assassin? Why is she dressing, well, supposed to be dressing up like a princess to impress the guests of their inn?_

Phoenix shook her head, "I'm not doing it."

Shadow's eyes narrowed, "Fine." She grabbed Phoenix's arm and struggled to drag her away, "I'll change you myself!"

"No you won't!"

"You bet I will!"

Jace watched them in pure confusion, "I'm so confused." _Aren't they supposed to be super powerful and infamous?_

Sea laughed, "I think Phoenix is going to lose that one."

Dragon looked at her, "What makes you say that?"

"Well it is her turn so it's only fair that she has to spend the day as a waitress," Sea shrugged.

Dragon shrugged, "I've only done this once before. Last time I was a knight, something a little more dignified than a lion."

Phoenix growled, "Fine! I'll do it myself."

Shadow let her go, "Then do it." She handed her a gold and orange dress.

Phoenix sighed. She went into the closest empty room and changed quickly, "It's too long. It covers my feet."

"You're a princess. That's the point," Shadow snapped.

_Dammit. C'mon I don't wanna wear this._ She sighed, "I'm going to trip and fall and die."

"No you're not," Shadow muttered, "and be glad you don't have to wear any shoes with that."

"Oh shut it," Phoenix snapped.

She spent the rest of the day dressed up as a princess working in the inn. _This sucks. I'm never doing this again. I'm going to mysteriously disappear every single year from now on. _"They won't be able to find me," she muttered. She glanced out the window. _Yes! The sun's going down and I am getting out of here!_ She walked up to Shadow, "I have other stuff I have to do and I'm pretty sure Jace is bored so we're going back now." She lit on fire and shot out the back door before the other assassin could argue.

Jace appeared next to her, "That was boring."

"You didn't have to make a fool of yourself," Chandra snapped.

"You got to do something," Jace muttered.

"We're going back now."

"You were gone all day, Beautiful" Ral said.

"It was a job," Chandra shrugged. Jace went up to the library.

Kaechia nodded, "They take a while then?"

"I wouldn't expect every job to be an all-day affair," Chandra rolled her eyes, "but yeah."

Ral shrugged, "I got bored."

"Why?" Chandra asked.

"Because there was nothing to do."

Chandra looked at him, "And you weren't going to bother finding something to do?"

"Snowflake ignored me all day long," Ral sighed, "and neither of you were here to listen to me talk about my newest idea."

"I'm listening," Chandra sat on the couch.

"I'm going to bed," Kaechia said. She stood and left the room.

"Ral, how badly did you annoy her?" Chandra asked as she watched her leave.

"Well I might have annoyed her a little bit," Ral didn't meet her gaze.

Chandra laughed, "If you want people to like you then you really should try not to annoy them. Once they know you better then you can annoy them."

Ral looked at her and leaned back against the back of the couch, "Why aren't you annoyed then Beautiful?"

"Because I'm used to people giving me nicknames and trying to annoy me," Chandra shrugged, "You should meet Dragon sometime."

Jace stared out the window of the library. He had cracked it open because the sun had made the room hot. It was night now. The moon lit up the room. It was plenty of light for him to see by. _I don't understand how an assassin guild can be so…carefree I guess. It doesn't make any sense. I always expected them to be cold and emotionless and yet they're so full of life and crazy._ He glanced around quickly. His catlike ears pricked as he listened carefully to the room around him. _I could've sworn I'd heard something._ He continued to study the room carefully.

"Well, well, hello again, Kitty Cat."

Jace froze. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"You're kind of stuck aren't you? That binding artifact made things a little interesting. It means we had to put in the extra effort to get your redheaded friend as well."

"She's not my friend. If she was I wouldn't be wearing this," Jace growled.

"Either way it made this difficult. Too difficult."

Jace gritted his teeth. _Dammit I thought I was done with this. I thought they wouldn't follow me again._

"Time to go."

Jace hissed softly, "Fine." He got to his feet and followed the man down the stairs. He saw Ral lying unconscious on the ground in the main room. He realized that he had no idea where Chandra was. _But if they had captured her too then wouldn't she be nearby? This stupid artifact would be causing me pain if she wasn't nearby. Then where the hell is she?_

"I must say I'm surprised that you came along quietly," he smirked.

Jace looked away from him. _I just didn't want a repeat of last time._

Ral opened his eyes, "Ah, god damn." He sat up suddenly, "Where's Beautiful?" He looked around. _Okay, let's try to find Cat Ears or Snowflake. They'll be easier I'm assuming._ He found Kaechia just waking up in her room, "We need to find Beautiful and Cat Ears."

Kaechia looked at him, "They aren't here?"

Ral shrugged, "I don't know. I just remember that the lights turned off and then it sounded as though Beautiful was fighting someone. Then this weird gas filled the room and I'm pretty positive I passed out."

Kaechia nodded, "Let's see if they're still here first then."

"Alright," Ral glanced around, "I would say split up but I don't know if there are other people here." He perked up instantly, "I have a device in my little corner of the building that'll make this search a hell of a lot easier." He smiled, "C'mon."

Kaechia followed him to his tinkering room which made up one fourth of the building. It was filled with gadgets and devices that she didn't really understand.

Ral glanced at her, "I wouldn't touch anything. These things have a habit of exploding."

Kaechia glanced at him, "Thank you for that."

"No problem," Ral sighed and dug through the pieces of scrap metal he had managed to salvage from his previous creations. He finally found what he was looking for. It was a device that saw everything within the entered area in infrared. "You wouldn't happen to know the combined area of this building would you?" Ral asked.

Kaechia shook her head, "I've never had to know."

Ral sighed, "Then we have to measure it."

Kaechia stared at him, "Why?"

"Because this device needs an area input. I just need the surface area of the entire island."

Kaechia sighed, "That's going to take forever."

Ral shook his head, "C'mon Snowflake. Try to be a bit more positive. It makes life a lot more fun."

Kaechia sighed, "I might."

Ral grabbed a spider like gadget, "Now all we have to do is walk all the way around every single room in this building. This guy will follow us and measure exactly what the distance is. Then I can round up and check everything within this area."

Kaechia sighed, "Alright." _This is still going to take forever._


	7. Chapter 8

"Ah jeez," Chandra opened her eyes. She was lying on a cold metal floor. She had no access to any mana of any kind. _Dammit. That sucks. There were a lot more than there seemed to be. _She quickly recalled the bright yellow serpent's eyes that had lulled her to sleep. _Hypnotist. That's the only way that would even work. Damn and I don't know of anyone really that's immune to that. _She sat up and looked around. The room around her was completely empty. There also didn't appear to be a door at all. _They had to have gotten me in here somehow._ She looked around again. There didn't appear to be a door from what she could see but she could feel a draft coming in from the left wall. _Knowing any kind of person or organization that would keep mages of any kind captive the lock is insanely simple and yet complicated at the same time. The door probably has multiple layers to it. Each layer would have its own separate lock probably too. _She sighed. _The easiest way to get out of her is to wait for someone to open the door from the outside._ She noticed that the bracelet was still on her wrist. _Jace is here somewhere or it'd be beeping like crazy. If they had figured out a way to remove it it'd have gone back to being silver. Since it's still gold I can rule that out. _Her eyes narrowed. _So then if I know anyone that hears about a planeswalking telepath they're actually after him and I'm here because of this._ She sighed. _But then again I could be completely wrong._ Chandra realized that she was going in circles. She growled softly. She turned to the left wall and stared at it. She didn't move at all.

"She's a smart one. She managed to figure out which wall was the door in a matter of seconds," he smirked.

"The cat did it faster. Besides I have no use for a bird."

"Yes sir."

"If I could kill her I'd do it myself but because of that artifact killing her could quit possibly kill him and he's too important."

Ral sighed, "See that didn't take long at all!"

"It took all day," Kaechia pointed out.

Ral met her gaze, "That artifact that binds Jace and Chandra together means that they can't kill one without killing both of them. A binding artifact protects both people. If they kidnapped them alive, which they obviously did or their bodies would be lying here somewhere, then that means that they want at least one of them alive. Meaning we still have time."

"Yes but is just the two of us enough to rescue them?" Kaechia asked.

Ral shrugged, "I guess we'll find out."

"I think we should get at least one person's help," Kaechia said, "because logically we can't do this by ourselves."

"Who do you suggest then Snowflake?" Ral asked.

"Don't be rude," Kaechia glared at him, "I was thinking Gideon."

"We could try I guess," Ral shrugged. He activated the device, "There's like no one here. It's just us."

"I gathered that much when we walked the entire island to get its surface area."

"They could have been moving around without us knowing," Ral said indignantly.

Kaechia nodded, "True. Now that we know they aren't here let's go talk to Gideon and see if we can't convince him to help us."

Ral nodded, "Alright."

Gideon looked up as they approached him.

"Gideon," Kaechia nodded.

Gideon returned it, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"We can't find B—Chandra and Jace," Ral said, "and we were wondering if you would be willing to help us."

"Jace can help himself," Gideon shrugged.

Kaechia's eyes flashed, "And what about Chandra? Are you just going to abandon her because Jace is with her? Are you really that simpleminded that you won't help a friend in need because you don't like the company they have?"

"Chandra can take care of herself," Gideon said steadily, "I have faith in her and Jace can rot for all I care."

Kaechia's eyes narrowed, "Fine. Last time I heard someone say that the person they said could take care of themselves ended up dying. Just keep that in mind." She stalked away.

Ral glanced from her to Gideon and back again before following her, "Damn Snowflake I didn't know you could be so much like Beautiful."

Kaechia shrugged, "Some people need a little bit of a push to do what's truly right."

"Does that mean that last part was a lie?" Ral asked.

Kaechia glared at him, "Rude. Just because I said I was giving him an extra push does not mean I was lying."

Ral nodded, "Sorry." _Where could those two have gone anyway? I mean whoever took them didn't leave any kind of traceable trail in the Blind Eternities._ "Perfect!"

"What?" Kaechia asked.

"Beautiful is part of an assassin's guild right?" Ral grinned, "Assassins excel at finding people so we can get them to help us find them and rescue them if it's necessary!"

Kaechia looked surprised, "That's actually a good idea."

"I come up with plenty of good ideas," Ral whined.

Kaechia glanced at him, "I never said you didn't."

"That's what you implied," Ral said.

Kaechia looked at him, "Were you spoiled as a child?"

Ral glanced at her, "Maybe. Why?"

"It shows," Kaechia said.

Ral stuck out his tongue, "So?"

"You do realize that if you stay with this little group you're going to have to save the entire multiverse and it's not going to be easy. Nothing's going to be served to you on a platter," Kaechia warned.

"So?" Ral asked, "I wouldn't have stuck around if I didn't think I could handle it."

Kaechia met his gaze evenly, "We have to be able to rely on you so if you don't think you can handle it anymore then don't hide it."

Ral grinned, "I wouldn't be able to."

Kaechia sighed. _He doesn't see the point. _She led the way to Ravnica while Ral led her to the inn, "I remember hearing weird stories about this inn as a kid. Now I know why."

"What's up?" Shadow asked.

"We actually came to tell you something about Chandra," Kaechia said quietly.

Shadow cocked her head to the side, "Alright." She looked around, "Dawn, watch the counter for me."

Dawn nodded, "Of course."

Shadow led the way up the stairs and through a secret door that was hidden by an illusion.

Kaechia explained the situation.

Shadow cocked her head to the side, "We'd be more than happy to help. I'd talk to Echo about what organizations might be interested in either of them and why. Although if the why is a little too personal then we won't be able to tell you."

"That's fine," Kaechia nodded, "I understand." Shadow fetched Echo before returning to the inn.

"Organizations that could be interested in Jace or Chandra," Echo nodded, "Well it's mostly Jace as he's a planeswalker and a telepath." She quickly looked it up on a computer.

_The kind of technology some worlds have will never cease to amaze me._ Kaechia shook her head. _Although technology like that is obviously not from this world._

Echo sighed, "Well there's the Infinite Consortium. They're definitely interested in Jace. There's also another organization that doesn't have an official name. They're located deep in the swamps of this world," Echo pointed to a world on a map on the screen, "They're also interested in Jace. The Order of Heliod has put a price on his head."

Ral's eyes widened, "Damn. What'd he do?"

"Absolutely nothing," Echo shrugged, "they just don't like the Consortium and don't think they should have a telepath on their side. And apparently he's also the possessor of some great evil or something." _Should tell that to Phoenix when she comes back because there's no way in hell I'm participating in the actual rescue._

"Well that's screwed up."

Echo shrugged, "The Order of Heliod is also interested in Chandra."

"We'll start there then," Kaechia nodded.

"A few teams of Lotus assassins will check out the other locations then," Echo said.

Kaechia nodded. She grabbed Ral's arm to keep him from touching the computer, "Don't break it. Let's go."

"I was just going to touch it!" Ral cried.

She led the way out the door and down the stairs. The two of them left the building before leaving the world.

Gideon looked around as he heard someone approaching. He saw Ral and Kaechia approaching him again. _Oh great._

"We're not here to cause problems. We actually just want to talk to the guys in charge about something," Ral smiled.

Gideon sighed, "Fine." He let them in and a guard escorted them into a separate room.

Kaechia looked around, "This wouldn't exactly be an ideal place to hold mages since mana is abundant."

"That's quite perceptive of you," an older man with blond hair and brown eyes walked in from another room, "but the mages here are law mages. They excel at making sure naughty mages can't do anything while they're in the cells."

Kaechia nodded, "Good to know."

"We heard you had a bounty on some telepath," Ral said suddenly.

Kaechia stared at him. _What are you doing?_

"Yes," he nodded.

"Has anyone claimed it yet?" Ral asked.

"No. Are you interested?"

Ral nodded.

"Very well," he nodded. He glanced at the guard who promptly left. He returned a moment later with a pack of papers, "This is all the information we have on him."

Ral nodded, "Thanks a bunch!" He stood and the two of them were escorted out.

Once they got out of the city Kaechia glared at him, "What was that?"

"If someone had already claimed the bounty then they'd have Jace," Ral shrugged, "I just thought that telling them we were interested in the bounty would get us the answer faster than just talking to them to try to see into their motives."

Kaechia growled, "Next time don't do something like that without telling me first so I'm not ready to kill you."

Ral smirked, "I'm sorry Snowflake."

Kaechia sighed, "Let's go back then."


	8. Chapter 9

"They're here," Echo pointed to the fenced in facility in the middle of a swamp, "You're mana's going to be cut off the moment you enter the building."

Ral stared at her, "How?"

"The building was built with lead. Lead is a metal that can block all forms of mana. However it's also relatively easy to get around," Echo explained, "If you can find a mage in the building that is a part of the organization they'll have an artifact on them that will allow them and only them access to mana. It's an individualized bypass. You'll have to find two mages or the place they store those artifacts."

Ral nodded, "So that's our first priority and then we can just wreak havoc."

"I'd wait until you find Jace and Chandra until you wreak havoc," Echo said.

Kaechia nodded, "We're going to do some looking around before you go wreaking any havoc. It'd be wise to get a look into their motives. We need to know if this is a onetime thing or if the organization has some long term purpose for them."

Ral sighed, "Fine."

Kaechia met his gaze, "And you're going to do exactly what I tell you when I tell you because this isn't going to be just some negotiation. If one thing goes wrong then you could kill both of them and possible me and yourself."

Ral nodded, "Of course."

Kaechia's eyes narrowed but she nodded. She led the way to the swamp. She walked around the building silently. She watched the people outside the building. Most of them were guards doing patrols. She cocked her head to the side, "They're avoiding the fence."

"Why?" Ral asked.

Kaechia shrugged.

"Let's find—"

Kaechia slapped her hand over his mouth and pinned him to the ground in an instant, "Don't do anything unless I tell you to. Anything you could do will attract their attention and then you can forget about rescuing them. The whole organization will be looking out for us."

Ral nodded reluctantly.

Kaechia let him sit up.

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to be quiet and follow my lead," Kaechia said calmly. She turned back to the building.

"I heard something in the swamp," the patrol of guards had walked up closer to the fence. However they still stayed a good distance away from it.

Kaechia froze. She gave Ral a warning look. Ral nodded. He remained still and silent. Suddenly he smiled. Kaechia watched him carefully. He shook the branches of a nearby tree. Birds flew out of it quickly in a rush.

Kaechia glanced at the fence. _Since the trees are so unstable a predator of some sort probably could have done that. At least I'm hoping that's the realization they'll come to._

They continued to watch the area for a few minutes before returning to their walk around the building.

Kaechia finally relaxed.

"This stuff is gross," Ral complained.

Kaechia ignored him. She stood and walked closer to the fence, "We have to find out why they're avoiding the fence."

"Maybe it's poisoned," Ral suggested.

"Then they'd more than likely avoid touching it. They avoiding getting too close to it," Kaechia created an ice copy of a creature commonly found in a swamp. _I'm going to find out why._ Ral glanced at her, "Are you sure that's a good idea Snowflake?"

She shrugged, "It's as good as any and better than yours."

Ral sighed, "Okay."

The ice creature moved closer to the fence. Electricity shot through the entire fence. Kaechia's eyes widened, "Dammit. The whole fence lit up."

Ral grabbed her arm and dragged her deeper into the swamp. He looked at her, "Can I just waltz in now?"

"No!" Kaechia snapped.

Ral sighed, "Then what are we going to do?"

Kaechia smiled and walked back towards the building. She created another ice creature and had it walk right into the fence. Then she darted along the fence as guards began to gather. She climbed over the fence and landed on the ground beyond it. Ral followed her. "Exactly as I thought, the fence needs time to recharge," she nodded, "Let's go."

Ral followed her towards the building. "What are we waiting for?" he asked when she stopped in front of a door.

"A guard," Kaechia crouched close to the ground.

Ral sat down next to her.

Kaechia created a thin but strong layer of ice on the ground that was completely clear. The moment a guard stepped on it he slid and fell to the ground. Kaechia then had a creature made of ice drag him into the doorway. She froze his mouth and eyes shut.

Ral took the keys and unlocked the door. Kaechia then created a wall of ice that attached to the walls outside the doorway. The two of them entered the facility. Ral looked at Kaechia, "Where are we going now?"

Kaechia glanced at him, "We have to find a mage. Did you leave the door open?"

Ral nodded.

"Good," Kaechia hurried down the hallway. The two of them could reach a small amount of mana through the open door. As they got farther away from the door it got more difficult. Finding a mage within the organization without being spotted inside the facility was easier said than done. Keeping Ral from just picking fights and going crazy was the harder task though.

"C'mon. Why can't we just walk around and look?" Ral asked.

Kaechia looked at him, "Because we obviously aren't a part of the organization."

"Then why don't we wear disguises?" Ral asked.

"We will once we find a mage," Kaechia snapped, "I'm assuming that their uniforms would be different."

"And if they aren't? We could have passed up plenty of them," Ral argued.

Kaechia glared at him. Suddenly she dragged him down the hallway and into an empty room. She didn't mess with the door.

Ral stood in front of her. He moved to peek out the door. Kaechia grabbed his collar and dragged him further into the room. The lights in the room were off. However a young woman with short brown hair walked into the room. She turned the lights on and closed the door.

Kaechia quickly crouched down where she was. When the lights turned on she was relieved that she had found an overturned table to hide behind.

Ral tugged on her sleeve and then pointed to the woman's arm, "There!"

Kaechia followed his gaze. Under the woman's long sleeves was a silver band. Kaechia could sense the bands magical ability. She suddenly felt all of her magic cut off completely. _Damn they closed the door._ An alarm started going off. Kaechia shot forward before the woman could move. She knocked her to the ground.

Ral watched with stunned wide eyes.

Kaechia wrestled the mage to the ground and choked her until she passed out but not enough to kill her. She grabbed the band and put it on her wrist. She looked at Ral, "Stay with me. We'll get you one."

Ral nodded.


	9. Chapter 10

Jace opened his eyes. _Ouch. Dammit I don't want to go through this again._ The room was extremely dark. He could barely see the walls to his left and right even though he could feel them.

_There was a reason you were always alone wasn't there?_ Jace's eyes widened. The voice he had always associated with this place was back. He shook his head. _Sure but who cares? I'm obviously not alone now and there's nothing I can do about it. _

_If you hadn't let her drag you around the way she does then she wouldn't be in the position she is. She wouldn't be a string they could pull._

"Shut up," Jace snapped.

"No one's talking." The door opened. Jace hissed as bright light flooded into the room. He fixed the man with a dark angry glare, "Why do you care?"

"There's obviously something wrong if you're hearing voices that no one else can," he kneeled down in front of Jace. His voice was filled with sarcastically false concern.

Jace's eyes narrowed, "Like I give a damn."

"Your defiance is becoming a problem," the man's voice hardened.

Jace smirked, "Not for me." Jace flinched as the man's fist clenched by his face.

The man lowered his fist, "That's fine. If I were to hit you then you wouldn't be able to run the mazes you love so much."

Jace glared at him, "Piss off."

He gave Jace a warning look. "Let's go," he pulled Jace to his feet.

Jace glared at the ground and followed him to a room down the hall. _Well then there's always picking a fight. Unfortunately I doubt that's going to work. It didn't work the first time I tried it. All it did was get me a lot of pain. Of course I could have just fought when I wasn't in this position but that wouldn't have ended well either._

_You wouldn't have hesitated if they weren't there. Or am I wrong?_

Jace gritted his teeth. _Would you stop? If I wanted your opinion I would've asked for it._

"Cat Ears!"

Jace turned in surprise. _What the hell is he doing here?_ "What are you doing you idiot?"

Ral caught up to him, "We've got to find Beautiful."

"You need to get out of here."

"I'm not leaving," Ral insisted.

Jace glared at him. He grabbed the back of his head and pulled him forward. He kneed him in the gut and knocked him backward out the door, "Get out!"

Ral was grabbed by a group of guards that had obviously been hunting him, "Dammit! I'm not leaving without him!"

Jace's eyes narrowed and his voice was icy, "You don't have a choice." The door closed between him and Ral.

Kaechia appeared around a corner, "You moron!" She hissed as she was grabbed as well.

Ral glanced at her, "I saw him and couldn't pass up the opportunity."

Kaechia glared at him as they were half dragged down the hall, "You dimwit. This wouldn't have happened if you had any sort of self-restraint. But naturally you don't!"

"What happened to being polite?" Ral asked dejectedly.

"I've given up on being polite with you," Kaechia snapped, "because you're absolutely hopeless."

The guards knocked the two of them out.

Ral opened his eyes, "Well damn." He was sitting in a chair. It technically had wheels but was nailed into the floor. He started jerking back and forth violently in an attempt to pull the nails up.

Kaechia was already awake and watching him. Her gaze betrayed her frustration and annoyance, "Even if you pull the nails up there's still the problem of getting past the door."

"One step at a time, Snowflake," Ral grinned, "I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

Kaechia's eyes narrowed, "Alright." _Good luck with that._

Ral continued to jerk the chair back and forth. He could feel the nails gradually loosening. _This is going to take a while. But I know where Jace is. Beautiful's gonna be another problem though. I don't know where she is. _

"We also can't use magic," Kaechia pointed out.

"That's alright," Ral shrugged, "We'll just have to fight with our fists then." _Or chairs. _He chuckled to himself. It took a lot of effort and time to finally pull the nails out of the ground. Ral glanced around. The nails were still stuck on the chair so moving in the chair would not be smooth. He sighed, "Hey Snowflake?"

"What?" she muttered.

"Can you come pull the nails out of the chair?"

She reluctantly moved over to the chair. She took her time pulling the nails out. _I'm seriously fed up with you and your stupid nicknames lightning mage. If you get us caught again I will freeze you in ice that doesn't melt and make you a wall decoration._ She shook her head, "There."

Ral stood on the chair so he could get his hands off the chair even though they were tied together. He then sat back down in the chair and crashed the back of it into the door. He turned around and wheeled backwards to the other side of the room before repeating the process.

Kaechia watched him. _You're kidding. A chair's not going to be able to break down a metal sliding door. It doesn't have any hinges. _She sighed. _Of course knowing him even with how much I don't know it's going to work through some crazy circumstance._ She struggled to her feet and walked over to lean against the wall just beyond the door, "How long is this going to take?"

"Don't know," Ral shrugged, "but I'm not giving up till it works."

Kaechia watched him through narrowed eyes. _I wonder how long that will last._ She waited patiently for hours while Ral continued to crash the wheeled chair into the door. Finally, after a few more hours of waiting the door opened and Ral crashed into a guard instead of a solid metal barrier. He grinned, "Told you!" Kaechia calmly followed him out the door. He rode the chair backwards down the hallway.

"What happens when we run into stairs?" Kaechia asked. It seemed as though she didn't expect a logical answer.

"I'll figure that out if we run into stairs," Ral shrugged. He stopped by a door that had voices speaking within and listened closely.

"I was wondering how long it would take for the poison to take effect but she's finally asleep. She's surprisingly more resistant to the kid's poison than she is his magic."

"That's not surprising at all. She is Crimson Phoenix. Her resistance to poison is one of the many things she's known for. "

Ral's eyes narrowed. _So they poisoned her. Alright, let's find Cat Ears and then find her._ He continued down the hall, "That was certainly interesting. Apparently there's a kid here that creates poison."

"Then we'll have to avoid him," Kaechia shrugged. They were suddenly surrounded by guards. Ral looked around, "Well damn. Not again."

Kaechia took a deep calming breath. _I'm not going to kill the lightning mage. According to Chandra he's important so he can't die. _

"Go to sleep. It is after all the middle of the night," a small voice echoed through the air. Kaechia recognized it as a spell. A boy around the age of sixteen walked around the corner. His eyes resembled that of a serpent and were a golden yellow. He watched them without blinking.

Ral met his gaze, "Well hi."

Kaechia cocked her head to the side.

He sighed, "C'mon. I can show a good place to hide out until we locate both of your friends."

"Why are you helping us?" Ral asked curiously. His eyes widened suddenly, "Not that I mind the help at all!"

"It's not right," he shrugged, "They're going to use my poison to kill her if the cat keeps being defiant the way he is. They've threatened it on multiple occasions but he continues. The only way to save them both is to get them out of here."

"You can create poison?" Kaechia asked.

He opened his mouth revealing long snakelike fangs in place of his canines. He could also open his mouth a lot wider than a normal person could.

"Oh," Kaechia nodded.

He led them into a small room. Floating just inside the door was Jace's baby dragon. He petted it and it melted the metal that held their hands together. Two guards were passed out in the back of the room.

"You're mages aren't you?" the boy asked.

Both of them nodded.

He handed both of them the bracelets that would allow them to use magic, "Here."

"You're a mage too," Ral noticed.

He nodded, "I was told to lull your redheaded friend to sleep when they brought me along to get the cat."

"He has a name," Kaechia pointed out.

He nodded, "I know he does. I just don't know what it is."

"Jace," Ral said confidently.

"Okay," he shrugged.

"What's your name?" Kaechia asked.

"I don't have one," he shrugged, "they never gave me one. I'm just the snake or the serpent."

"That sucks," Ral cocked his head to the side, "I know!"

"What?" Kaechia asked.

"Let's call you Lylly!"

"Lylly?" he cocked his head to the side, "but—"

"Yep," Ral nodded.

"If he doesn't want that name then maybe you should listen to what he wants to be called," Kaechia snapped.

"Lylly's fine," he shrugged.

"This looks like a camera room," Kaechia said after a quick look around.

"It is," Lylly nodded, "I knocked the guards out and convinced them to open the door."

"Oh, so that was you," Ral laughed, "I was wondering why the door opened."

Kaechia rolled her eyes, "I don't know how Chandra puts up with any of you." _These boys are just entirely incompetent. This one's optimistic to the point of insanity. The cat's emo and the warrior wannabe was unimpressive and entirely unreliable._ She shook her head.

"I don't really know either," Ral shrugged.

Kaechia glanced at him. She turned her attention to the screens. "It looks as though Jace is in some sort of maze. Chandra doesn't have a camera watching her."

Lylly glanced at her, "I know where she is though. I just think that getting Jace is going to be the biggest problem. He can be really stubborn from what I've gathered."

Kaechia nodded, "He's stubborn and stupidly thinks he can do everything by himself."

"Let's go!" Ral said.


	10. Chapter 11

Chandra opened her eyes. She quickly looked around as she didn't recognize her surroundings, "Where?"

"We couldn't get back to Sun's Reprieve," Kaechia explained.

"What happened?" Chandra sat up and met her gaze.

"Well, let's see. The lightning idiot and I decided to come to the rescue and he screwed everything up. However we managed to successfully rescue you and the cat. Your cat friend told us that we could summon Sun's Reprieve to any world we were on but we don't exactly know how. He's also pouting because he got dragged away from where he apparently wanted to be."

"Alright," Chandra nodded, "I'm going to assume that that's the short sweet version."

"Gideon joined up and helped us out too," Ral added.

Chandra smiled, "Did he stick around?"

Ral glanced around, "I think so. I actually think he went to go take another look around to make sure that we weren't followed."

Chandra could see Jace just barely in a tree. He was obviously pouting and in his own head.

"Fangs joined up with us too after helping us out."

"Fangs?" a young man with snakelike yellow eyes that didn't blink cocked his head to the side, "I thought you were going to call me Lylly?"

"No," Chandra clarified, "he probably didn't explain but he's going to call you all sorts of random and sometimes stupid things and the rest of us will call you Lylly."

"Oh," Lylly nodded.

Chandra sighed, "I'm going to find Gideon."

"You can stand?" Lylly asked.

Chandra nodded, "I'm more resistant to your poison than I am your magic."

"How'd you know?" Lylly asked quietly.

"That's complicated," Chandra shook her head. She walked off to find Gideon. She found him relatively easily. He wasn't exactly trying to be quiet or if he was he was failing badly. "So we can go back to Sun's Reprieve now that everybody's conscious," she said calmly.

"That's good," Gideon nodded.

"They told me you had gone to look around again like it was the thousandth time you'd done it," Chandra led the way back to the others.

"It definitely hasn't been the thousandth time," Gideon shook his head, "More like the tenth."

"The tenth today or the tenth period?"

"Today," Gideon said like it was normal.

"Okay," Chandra nodded. _And that would be exactly why they sounded like he had done it the thousandth time._ "Jace! We're leaving."

"Good for you," Jace muttered.

"That includes you," Chandra said.

"Yeah right," Jace slid out of the tree and began to walk away.

"Yes it does," Chandra followed him.

Jace ignored her.

Chandra gritted her teeth, "With people like that after you it's not a good idea to be alone."

"There's a reason I am alone," Jace muttered.

"Why? Is it to avoid pain?" Chandra stopped following him. She shook her head, "Is it to avoid the guilt of watching others suffer because they decided to care about what happened to you?"

Jace froze but remained silent.

"You can't stop people from caring and you can't live your life alone. A life alone is a life of pain sorrow and a toxic cycle of lonesome thoughts," Chandra said.

The baby dragon glanced at her. _How does she do that? I've never seen anyone read him like that._

Jace gritted his teeth.

"People are going to care wherever you go. It's in human nature and human interaction is required for you to be able to function," Chandra shrugged.

"Would you just shut up?" Jace snapped. He turned and glared at her, "Why does it matter? Why do you even care? I told you there was a reason I was alone and I'm not telling you anything more."

"No I'm not going to shut up because it's not in your best interests. I'm perfectly willing to pick a fight with my friends if they're being stupid and not acting in a way that is best for them," Chandra returned his glare tenfold.

"You don't know what's best for me," Jace hissed, "You can't."

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "Try me."

"Look I told you there was a reason I was alone so just leave me alone," Jace turned and continued to walk away. _I don't understand why she won't just leave me be. It's never taken this much effort to push someone away. _

_You gave her the time to get close to you and followed her around wherever she went._

_Shut up. It's not like I had a choice in the matter. I don't like being in pain. I may be able to take a lot of it but that doesn't mean bullshit. _Jace glared at the ground.

Chandra sighed and sat on the ground stubbornly.

Gideon walked up to her, "Where's he going?"

Chandra shrugged, "Who knows? He won't get very far though. He doesn't like pain." _That much I gathered from last time. This time he may be able to take a lot of pain but he still doesn't like it._ Her eyes narrowed, "I need to know how much the archives truly remember." The golden band on her arm beeped. Chandra sighed, "And now I have to go pick the idiot up."

"If you think so low of him then why do you bother with this anyway?" Gideon asked.

_Is that jealousy?_ Chandra glanced at him, "I have to." She took off into the air. _Why doesn't Jace's upgrade require mana? That's not fair. Is it because he has the physical manifestation but not the actual power that comes with it? _She found Jace crouched on the ground. She heard him cursing under his breath as she landed in front of him. She sighed and shook her head, "I'm going to assume you're going to be in a bad mood for a while."

"I hate you," Jace hissed.

"Go ahead," Chandra shrugged, "There are definitely worse people to hate. At least I'm not going to kill you for hating me." She felt him picking around in her head and sighed, "All that's going to do is give you a headache."

Jace pulled out of her head as his began to hurt, "That shouldn't be possible. Everyone has reasons for why they do what they do."

"Sure. Mine just happen to be I want to," Chandra shrugged. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet, "Most of the time anyway."

"And the rest of the time?" Jace asked.

"Because I care about my friends," Chandra grabbed his arm and dragged him back.

Jace followed her reluctantly.

"We're back," Chandra said cheerfully.

_How the hell can she be cheerful after what they did to her?_ Jace studied her carefully.

_Because she's hiding something. She's always hiding something._

Jace closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. _Shut up already. I've already told you I don't care._

Chandra led the way back to Sun's Reprieve, "Well that was a fun excursion. Let's take a few days to chill out before doing anything else exciting."

"I wouldn't exactly describe that as being exciting," Gideon said.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "I was being sarcastic."

Ral smiled, "C'mon Tin Can."

"My name is Gideon and I would appreciate it if you would call me that."

"Tin Can flows better," Ral shrugged.

Gideon sighed, "Fine."

Chandra sighed, "Please don't start fighting. I said no more excitement for a few days, remember?" _I swear if any other these people start fighting I'm going to lose my freaking mind. Someone is going to die._ She flopped onto the couch, "Just go find something to do that doesn't involve interacting with each other." _That way you won't fight._ She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Actually I have this thing that I wanted to build!" Ral started.

"Then go build it instead of standing here wasting time explaining it to me," Chandra interrupted.

"Oh okay," Ral disappeared deeper into the building. Kaechia led Lylly up the stairs and Jace had already gone up to the library.

"Why are you grouping planeswalkers that obviously don't get along with each other together? This isn't going to end well and you know it," Gideon sat down in front of her.

"It will end fine," Chandra said. _I need to find out what was erased from the archives. There might be something important in them from the previous timeline that I didn't have the time or think to look in to._

"None of them get along," Gideon insisted, "This isn't like you. You're not this patient."

"Look Gideon," Chandra opened her eyes. They were burning orange, "You can't tell me who I can and cannot be just because who I am does not fit into what you think I should be, got it?"

Gideon swallowed, "I'm just saying I've never seen you act like this before and it doesn't seem to fit your character."

Chandra sat forward, "What are you really getting at?"

"What?" Gideon looked shocked.

"You're talking as though you want me to stop this," Chandra shrugged, "and I'm asking you why it would matter to you. It's not like any of these people would destroy the multiverse."

"You don't know that for sure," Gideon said.

"This is about the fact that you don't trust Jace isn't it?" Chandra asked.

"I honestly don't trust any of them," Gideon shook his head, "They're too wild to be relied upon."

"Would you rely on me?" Chandra asked.

"Of course," Gideon nodded.

"Why?"

"You've never broken a promise," Gideon said.

Chandra nodded, "Exactly. I'm just as wild as they are. You just don't know them and the one you do know is a part of a rival organization." She smiled, "Look I can sort things out and every last one of them is reliable in their hearts." She nodded, "For example, Kaechia and Ral came looking for Jace and me when it would've definitely been easier to let us suffer or escape on our own."

"And what about Jace?" Gideon asked.

"He just needs time," Chandra shrugged, "He'll come around."

"I find your faith in him disturbing," Gideon stated simply.

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "Why?"

"You can't see what he's thinking. You never know what he could be planning," Gideon shook his head, "He's a part of the Consortium and the possessor of some great evil."

_Oh really? _"And do you know what this evil is?" Chandra sat back against the back of the couch, "Have you seen it with your own eyes or are you just believing what you're told?"

"I don't know what it is," Gideon answered honestly, "and I've never actually seen it."

"Alright then," Chandra nodded, "You can't judge one person by an organization they were a part of. The organization may act a certain way even though some members may disagree with its actions."

"He's still a part of it. Before the Dragon disappeared the Consortium was his biggest foothold. You don't just quit the Consortium," Gideon insisted.

"Look I know that," Chandra snapped, "but this is my choice. If you don't like it you can bail. Or you can live to deal with it. If you keep bringing up the same argument over and over again then your logic is flawed and you are afraid. That's not a good thing Gideon."

"I'm not afraid," Gideon insisted.

"Sure," Chandra nodded, "the moment I believe that is the moment you stop being a law mage."

"That's not happening," Gideon said.

"I know," Chandra rolled her eyes, "that's exactly why I said it. You are afraid. You're afraid of what Jace might do. You're afraid of what all of them might do. Might is just that. It's a possibility that can be avoided should the right choices be made."

Jace listened to her argue with Gideon. _She actually does think beyond the moment. That's unexpected. _

_Unexpected isn't a good thing. The last thing that was unexpected was—_

_I know._ Jace gritted his teeth, "I know. You don't have to remind me."

"Who are you talking to?" The baby dragon asked.

"No one," Jace muttered. _You should be gone by now. This is the first time you've bugged me outside of that facility. You should be gone._

_You can't get rid of me. I'm a part of you. I'll always be here._

Jace hissed under his breath and returned to the library.


	11. Chapter 12

"No!" Jace screamed. He watched the woman he had learned to love as a mother fall limply to the ground. Her eyes were closed and a smile lit her face. Jace stared at her in horror. Blood began to pool under her back. _She's dead. She's dead. They're both dead._

"Didn't like that, did you?" a woman crouched down in front of him.

Jace backed away from her fearfully. Tears streamed unchecked down his cheeks.

She grabbed his arm with a bloody hand, "Sorry kid. You aren't going anywhere. I have a job to do. You ran away from where you belong. I have to take you back." She pulled him closer to her.

Jace tried desperately to pull out of her grasp but she held him form. His ears were already flattened against his head. He shook his head, "No. I won't go back."

The woman's eyes narrowed. She forced his mouth open and ran the flat of the blood covered knife along his tongue, "Taste that?"

Jace gagged as the taste of their blood filled his mouth. He flicked his tongue once she removed the blade in a fruitless effort to remove the taste.

"That's their blood. They're dead. And it's your fault. You're the one that ran away. Do it again and the same thing will happen," she leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "Anyone that shelters you, anyone that protects you will meet the same fate as these two lovely people. They'd be able to live out their lives in peace if you hadn't disturbed them."

Jace's eyes widened, "But—"

"They'd have been able to grow old together and live their life together uninterrupted if not for you. You're a bad luck charm. No one wants a black cat."

Jace opened his eyes quickly. _That's why I never sleep. I don't let myself dream._ He shook his head. The taste of blood lingered in his mouth so he licked his sleeve. _That really didn't taste good but anything is better than that._ He shook his head again, "Anything's better than that."

_Anything you say? Even the taste of someone else's blood?_

"I don't even eat meat you dimwit," Jace snapped. _Great. Now I'm actually talking to this voice._ He flicked his tongue as the taste returned, "Dammit."

_Right. I forgot._ The voice seemed to be mocking him._ You can taste the blood of even overcooked meat. Of course you are the cat so that would make sense with your heightened sense of taste. It is odd that cats are carnivores and you refuse to eat meat._

_Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. _Jace got to his feet and walked over to one of the many bookshelves of the library. He could hear Ral tinkering in his corner of the building. Lylly was sound asleep in one of the rooms downstairs while Gideon paced around the outside perimeter of the building. Jace bit his tongue. The window was cracked open. _I don't remember doing that._

_You didn't sense her? The redhead opened the window a little while ago. Your senses really are dulling._

Jace gritted his teeth and walked over to the window. He closed it and returned to the bookshelf. He opened the first book he grabbed and began to read it. _I've read this one already._

_Then read a different one. Read one that can actually help you instead of a useless book about flowers._

Jace's eyes narrowed. The baby dragon was still asleep on top of the cushion of the back of the couch. He ignored the voice and continued reading.

Chandra sat on the couch. _I wouldn't know how to get the archive to "remember". Echo would but if I leave for one second everything's going to fall apart._

"Chandra."

She looked up and saw Jace's baby dragon sitting down on the couch in front of her, "What's up?"

"I'm worried about Jace. He's always heard this voice that only he can hear but now he's actually talking to it out loud. Usually it would just crop up when he was in the facility where they kept both of you."

"And you're worried because he's now hearing it outside the facility," Chandra nodded, "That makes sense." _I'm not a telepath so there's nothing I can really do about it._

"You can't do anything huh?"

"Not yet," Chandra shook her head, "I can't do anything yet."

"So?" the dragon seemed confused.

"That means that all we can do right now is keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Chandra shrugged.

The dragon nodded, "Okay."

Chandra smiled, "He'll be fine."

"You're sure?"

"Positive," Chandra leaned back against the couch. She glanced around. _I'll wait until tomorrow put Kaechia in charge and take Jace with me to talk to Echo. Kaechia should be intimidating enough to keep Ral and Gideon in check. If not then I'll probably have to break up a fight the moment I get back. And if Kaechia ends up getting into a fight then I'll really have to intervene._ Chandra sighed, "This sucks. It's like these people don't know what getting along even means." _Oh well. I'll have to trust that I don't have to micromanage them. It might be a little too early for that but there's only one way to find out._ She nodded and closed her eyes.

Jace glanced up as the library door was knocked on.

"Jace, we have somewhere to go today," Chandra said.

"Where?" Jace asked.

"I'm paying a visit to Echo," Chandra explained.

"Fine," Jace set the book down and followed her down the stairs.

"Alright," Chandra stopped in front of the couch, "Kaechia's in charge and if there are any fights everyone will do one thing they absolutely hate for the rest of the day."

"Like what?" Ral asked.

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "Ral gets to do nothing. By nothing I mean nothing. Kaechia can cook every meal and Gideon gets to make an absolute mess of the entire place."

"You can't force me to do that," Gideon said in shock.

Chandra glanced at him, "Try me. Pick a fight with anyone and that's what you will be doing. Kaechia's in charge but that doesn't mean she'll be exempt."

"What about Cat Ears?" Ral asked.

"He's going to be with me so I don't have to worry about him getting into a fight," Chandra shrugged, "It won't take me very long. I'll be back." She planeswalked and Jace followed.

"Phoenix!" Echo looked excitedly, "I was actually just about to go get you. I need you to test out some new weapons for me."

"How long will this take?"

"Not long. You just have to do it a couple times," Echo handed her a hand gun.

"Ranged?" Phoenix asked.

"Yep." Echo nodded, "You're the only one I'm positive will survive the release of energy."

Phoenix's eyes widened.

"All you have to do is shoot each one once. There's a hand gun a shot gun and a bow."

"A bow?" Phoenix whined.

Echo turned her around and shoved her out the door, "Don't worry when you miss the target it'll dissipate once it reaches a certain range."

"You seem positive she'll miss," Jace followed them.

"She's never hit a target with a bow before," Echo shrugged.

Jace's eyes widened. _I thought she was good with any weapon._

_She's not is she? Can't you use a bow?_

_So what?_ Jace closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Phoenix managed to hit the target with the hand gun even though it was barely. Instead of regular bullets the gun released dangerously high concentrated mana. Phoenix's eyes widened, "That's pretty damn destructive."

Echo nodded, "Next!" she handed Phoenix the shotgun.

Phoenix completely missed the target. She shook her head, "There's a reason I stick to swords and other melee weapons."

"Now the bow!" Echo was too excited to pay attention to her whining.

Phoenix sighed, "This sucks." Echo had to help her draw the bow because she hadn't bothered remembering how to use one. She let the energized arrow fly and it missed terribly, "Are you done embarrassing me now?"

Echo nodded, "Now you must have come here for a reason. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you could get this to remember any differences in the timeline," Phoenix explained.

Echo cocked her head to the side, "Maybe. That would require some fiddling. Here let me see it and I'll get it back to you in a few days."

Phoenix nodded. _I have to be getting back before the others kill each other anyway._ She handed Echo the jumper that held the archive and left. She returned to Sun's Reprieve. The place was quiet. Ral was tinkering where he always did. She had seen Gideon patrolling the outskirts of the island Sun's Reprieve floated on. Kaechia sat on the couch, "They behaved."

"That's good," Chandra sighed. She flopped onto the couch and watched Jace skip up the stairs to the library. _He spends all of his time in the library._ She followed him, "You know something?"

"What?" Jace asked quietly.

"Isolating yourself isn't going to help your situation," Chandra shrugged, "You can hate it all you want but having just your own thoughts for company is lonely."

"I'm used to it."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," Chandra said. She walked calmly back down the stairs.

_It doesn't hurt if you're numb to it._ Jace turned and continued to the library.

"You're back!" the dragon flew up to him happily. He paused, "Jace? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jace shook his head, "I'm just thinking."

The dragon watched him read a book. _Something's wrong. I know something's wrong but I don't want to upset him any more than he looks like he is._ The dragon curled up on the couch and took a nap.


	12. Chapter 13

"Kallist," Lilianna walked up to him.

"Yeah? What's up? Is something wrong?" he studied her face worriedly.

"We're leaving," Lilianna nodded, "We're leaving. There's going to be a conflict soon and you and I are staying out of it."

Kallist cocked his head to the side, "Okay?"

Lilianna handed him a bracer looking object, "I borrowed this from an acquaintance. It'll allow you to travel between the worlds."

"Really?" Kallist placed it carefully on his arm, "How?"

"I'm not entirely certain," Lilianna shrugged. She led the way to a remote world that was well outside most planeswalker's knowledge.

Kallist looked around, "This place is certainly different." The buildings were small and he could see the sky just from standing on the ground. The houses were built like a grid. Each building had its own designated space and no other building came into that space. They were all the same distance from each other. Each side of the street was symmetrical.

"We're staying here until everything calms down," Lilianna stated. She walked into a house.

"You already prepared for this?" Kallist asked.

Lilianna nodded, "Yes. 'Once planeswalkers start to gather then there will be a conflict unlike any the multiverse has ever seen'."

Kallist cocked his head to the side.

Lilianna smirked, "It's something a young oracle told me a long time ago." _'I have no intention of killing you this time. However I will not hesitate if you give me no other option.' _The pyromancers words rang in her head. _Then I won't give you reason too._ Lilianna promised silently.

"Phoenix," Echo said slowly.

"What's up?" Phoenix looked at her in surprise, "What's wrong?"

"You should come see something," was all Echo said.

Phoenix cocked her head to the side, "Alright." She followed Echo to the Lotus Inn on Ravnica. Jace was left with no choice but to follow.

"Look at this," Echo pointed to the computer screen in front of her, "What you've seen as a time reset this whole time has been a loop. This loop has been repeated over and over and over and over again."

"Who put it into place?" Phoenix asked.

"It doesn't say. It just says that this loop has been repeated quite a few dozen times," Echo shrugged. She scrolled down, "When you 'defeated' Bolas last time his spark and soul latched on to one of you. I don't know if this carried over to this repeated but I would assume so since only the mind can forget. The heart and the soul cannot."

"That's interesting," Phoenix narrowed her eyes.

Jace listened intently without commenting.

_If it's a loop then it won't matter what happens because it will just repeat itself over and over again._

Jace gritted his teeth. _Shut up. Just be quiet. I'm not interested._

_Of course you're interested_.

"Each repeat has been different too," Echo shook her head, "Time is really confusing once someone or something screws it up. I'll just give you this back." She unplugged the jumper and handed it to Phoenix, "Has Ral finished setting up the electrical system yet?" Echo asked.

"I think so," Phoenix nodded.

Jace nodded, "He has. It functions just fine as long as he keeps his lightning far away from it."

"Alright," Phoenix smiled.

"So I'm going to set up computers in Sun's Reprieve that way you can read through this on your own," Echo nodded.

"Alright," Phoenix nodded. She led the way back to the floating castle.

Echo followed her to an empty room and started setting up a computer system. Jace hung in the doorway and watched curiously.

Phoenix then spent the next few hours reading. _This is crazy. Different versions of us did different things in the different versions of the loop._ "So he's always been outside of it. That would explain why it had looked like nothing had changed," she nodded.

"Who was always outside the loop?" Jace asked curiously. She had banned him from messing with the computer so he was sitting on the floor and listening to her comment on it instead.

"Markov," Phoenix said simply.

"Oh really?" Jace bit his lower lip. _That's weird. How can someone be outside a time loop._

_You idiot. You know that the caster of a spell can choose the spells target. Or targets in this case._

Jace growled softly.

Phoenix glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. _He's acting weird. Well weirder than usual. Why would he be growling for…maybe he's responding to the voice the baby dragon said he heard. 'his spark and soul latched on to one of you.'. That's not good. If it did carry over than that would explain why Bolas hasn't been seen or heard from since the repeat of the loop. It would also mean that I'm probably right._ She sighed and returned to reading, "I'm going to look myself up."

"Why?" Jace asked.

"Because I want to know how different I was from one loop to another," Chandra shrugged, "I can look you up too if you like."

"Actually," Jace shook his head, "I'm good." _It's probably not much better than this version and I don't really want to know._

_Of course it can't be much better. Do you really think the loops would be that different from each other?_

"What?" Chandra stared at the screen in shock.

"What?" Jace asked quickly. His ears pricked up and he looked at her expectantly.

"That's so—Okay so in a previous loop, unfortunately it doesn't specify which one, you and I were partners under _Bolas_. But in the loop that I can remember we fought against him," Chandra's eyes narrowed.

"Really?" Jace cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah," Chandra nodded. _Why though? What changed?_ "According to the archive I got out from under him first in a later loop and it took you a while longer to do so."

"So I'm a bad guy?" Jace asked. He didn't seem surprised, "To put it simply." He also sounded slightly dejected.

"Hey, you aren't a bad guy now," Chandra insisted. She turned to face him completely, "This is a whole other loop. You have the power to change everything. Just because you were something before doesn't mean that you have to be now. I mean each loop probably represents a small amount of progress since it's not that easy to just change but the heart and soul never forgets."

Jace broke eye contact, "Easy for you to say. You don't even remember whatever happened to you in this loop."

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "That doesn't mean bullshit." She sat back in the chair and studied him, "The heart and soul never forgets. That means that if someone influenced you in some way in a previous loop then you're going to remember that person. You may not be able to explain why you do or you might not even notice it but you do." She smirked, "Or you would have tried to get away a hell of a lot more often than you have."

Jace glared at her, "I'm just not fond of being in pain."

"You never have been which is why I knew it'd work," she shrugged.

"You're unnecessarily mean," Jace muttered.

"I am not," Chandra leaned forward. Her eyes began to glow, "I can show you unnecessarily mean if that's really what you want."

Jace leaned back away from her, "I'm good. I don't want to find out."

"Good," Chandra sat back and turned back to the computer screen.


	13. Chapter 14

"Well it looks like things have actually gotten interesting. Hmm, that redhead is something else." _Her ability to conquer all obstacles is going to make her difficult to get past definitely. But her reliance upon her heart and her feelings makes her indomitable. People have been careless with her. He's impacted her in a negative way making him her eternal enemy. Her ability to see into the hearts of others makes her a positive influence on her friends and makes her enemies her friends in the future. _"I have her to thank for almost everything. She's been more help than she knows." _Of course the moment I screw up is the moment she swears off both sides of this battle. Her tendency to hold grudges makes her a volatile ally at best. However I haven't done anything against her yet and I know to tread carefully. She isn't just a tool. None of them are and if I were to treat her or any of her friends as a tool then I'd be the one in trouble._

Jace sighed and looked up at the computer screen again. _Is she asleep? It looks like she's asleep._ He got to his feet and leaned over her to see the computer screen. _So it says her and I were partners. It's so damn vague. This is annoying. There's no detail in this whatsoever. It just says that we were partners and then she got out from under Bolas first. I did later. 'The planeswalkers wielding the mana of the plains were never under him but were unaware of the grand conflict for multiple versions of the loop.' That was unnecessarily wordy. So none of the white planeswalkers were in the conflict at all while Chandra and I were and we worked for the…bad guy? I'm going to assume he's the bad guy. _Jace glanced down at her to make sure she was still asleep._ Okay so…'in the current loop the dragon's main enemies of the previous loops were completely manipulated. He manufactured events into their pasts that made them less inclined to get along.'? _Jace's eyes widened, "He's been manipulating us from the start. Because he knew about the previous loop which wasn't supposed to happen. That means that the spell that was cast to cover up the memories of those affected by the loop is weakening." _I remember Chandra telling Lilianna that she remembers everything as well. Bolas and Lilianna know about the previous loop but also know about this one. What about her then?_ He glanced at Chandra again, "Why don't you remember?"

_Because she's hiding something obviously. How can she not know? There's something she's keeping away from everyone here._

"Shut up," Jace snapped. He turned back to the computer. _There must be a reason she can't remember. Of course it's not going to tell me that. 'The Dragon also eliminated some problematic planeswalkers so they could not pose a threat later on. The ones he planned on using were allowed to live but manipulated into believing what he wanted them to.'_ "But it's hard to undo something like that," Jace muttered, "It's close to impossible to undo something that was so ingrained into our very beings." _'The heart and soul never forgets.' Does that mean that the next repeats are going to be more like this one than the previous ones because Bolas changed everything?_

_ The effects are lasting you idiot. The fact that he changed everything means that all the next loops won't be much different from this one. You'll have to relive all of the pain and suffering if the loop is repeated._

"Who's putting the loops into effect then?" Jace glanced at Chandra as she shifted. He stiffened and watched her carefully until she went back to being still. _I doubt it would be Bolas since his situation has apparently steadily gotten worse with each repeat. I don't know what enemies he has though. It'd require a lot of magic and someone as powerful if not more so. _

_ Do you seriously think anyone can be more powerful than an elder dragon? You imbecile._

Jace's eyes narrowed, "Then who do you suppose it is?" _Another elder dragon maybe?_

_ He's the only one. You know that. Are you just playing stupid or are you really that dimwitted?_

Jace growled, "Shut up. I know what I'm talking about." He left the room and went up to the library.

Chandra opened her eyes, "So he really does talk to the voice. And given his tone I'd assume that it's not the most polite voice in the world." She smirked and sat up. _I still can't do anything but I can get Echo and Star to create something that can record thoughts and voices in someone's head from a distance. That way I can know what's really going on and whether or not I'm just being paranoid. However that's going to have to wait until a few days from now. _She sat back in the chair and spun it around, "Of course then again I could just be mean and drag Jace around the multiverse for no real reason tomorrow." She cocked her head to the side, "Nah. He can spend tomorrow in the library. That's fine." She got to her feet and left the room. She closed the door behind her and left a seal on it before walking down the stairs.

Jace bit his lower lip, "She sealed it. Of course she sealed it." _To keep me and more than likely Ral away from the computers. Why me? I don't understand why I'm not allowed to be around the computers._

_ She's hiding something that she doesn't want you to know about._

"Would you shut up already?" Jace snapped.

"Jace!" the baby dragon flew up to him and landed on his head, "I was wondering where you were. You weren't in the library last night."

"I was hanging out in that room right there," Jace pointed to the door he was standing in front of.

"Why aren't you there now?"

"Because I left to go to the library and Chandra sealed it," Jace sighed dejectedly, "That sucks." _I can't access the multiverse's largest computerized archive because she sealed the door. And I'm probably not going to be able to get passed it without convincing her to let me in._ He turned and went back to the library. _And this library has absolutely nothing on elder dragons. Nothing! The only about dragons even is an encyclopedia of basic dragons. That's not elder dragons. I read that book twice and elder dragons weren't even mentioned!_

"You look put out," Chandra commented as she walked in carrying two books.

"Where'd those come from?" Jace asked.

"They were a gift from Ral. He got them from Ravnica," Chandra explained, "and of course the lazy ass didn't want to put them away himself. He said he was going to get more."

"Okay? Why?" Jace asked.

"According to him," Chandra ridiculously imitated Ral's voice, "Cat Ears has to have something to do now that he's read the nearby library from cover to cover."

Jace smiled, "You sounded really dumb doing that."

"It was supposed to sound stupid because he's a rotten liar," Chandra muttered. _I got a smile. YES!_

"How is he lying?" the baby dragon asked.

"Because he's really just trying to fill the two empty bookshelves in the back," Chandra shrugged.

"The fact that they're empty bugs him?" Jace asked.

Chandra nodded, "He complains about it a lot. Getting you more books to read might be somewhere in his motivation but it's definitely not the forefront of it."

"How are you so good at reading people if you can't read minds?" the baby dragon asked.

"Because I learned how to do it," Chandra kneeled down and put the books on the bottom shelf of the closest bookshelf.

Jace stood up and walked over to her, "You read people's emotions don't you. You use their face and body language to infer what their feeling and therefore what they're thinking."

"You got it," Chandra nodded, "and once a person gets good enough at something like that even the most closed off people are open books." She stood up and walked towards the door, "Expect me to be in and out until Ral stops dragging books in."

Jace nodded and watched her leave. _I don't think she's hiding something at all. _

_ Of course you don't you imbecile. It's because she's been nice to you all this time. Have you already forgotten about the band around your wrist that keeps you here?_

_ She's as open a book to me as I am to her. _Jace gritted his teeth.

_Liar. If she was then you'd know everything about her by now._

Jace sighed. _Whatever. Knowing everything about a person isn't that important._

_ If you truly believed that then you'd stay out of others' heads. _

Jace gritted his teeth and flattened his ears.

The baby dragon watched him nervously. _Please hurry Chandra. I'm getting really worried._


	14. Chapter 15

Kaechia glanced out the window. _I don't understand why Chandra wastes her time with these boys. They don't treat her with any respect. They're rude and she just takes it. Of course then again she has a tendency to be rude back. I guess they are deserving of as much respect as anyone else. _She shook her head, "On second thought if they aren't going to respect me or those I care about then they don't deserve that respect."

"Hi Kaechia," Lylly smiled. He continued past the table and up the stairs.

"Hello," Kaechia nodded.

"Fangs!" Ral grinned, "What's up?"

"Nothing much," he shrugged, "I was just talking to Gideon."

"About what?"

"Oh nothing really. He was just wondering where Chandra was," Lylly shrugged.

Ral cocked his head to the side, "You sure?"

Lylly didn't meet his gaze but nodded. He hurried past him up the stairs.

Kaechia cocked her head to the side, "That was certainly odd." She followed him up the stairs, "Lylly!"

"Huh?" Lylly jumped and looked at her. "You sounded like Chandra," he relaxed some.

"Why did Gideon want to talk to you about Chandra?" Kaechia asked.

Lylly tensed visibly, "Well uh, you see he just wanted to know where she was."

"Where she was or what she was doing?" Kaechia asked.

Lylly lowered his head, "Honestly he wanted to know what Jace was doing." His voice was barely audible.

Kaechia's eyes narrowed, "I'm going to talk to him." She stormed down the stairs.

"Wait! Please don't make a big case out of it!" Lylly followed her quickly.

Kaechia found Gideon patrolling around the building again. She froze his feet to the ground and then walked around him so he was facing her, "What is wrong with you? It's impolite to ask someone to spy on someone else because you don't have the ability to do it yourself."

Gideon sighed, "I wasn't using Lylly to spy on anyone. I just wanted to know if he knew what Jace was up to in the library."

"That is a dirty lie and you know it," Kaechia's eyes narrowed dangerously. A bright blue glow sparkled like ice behind her eyes, "You don't trust Jace at all and you're jealous because Chandra gives him more of her attention."

Gideon's eyes widened, "What? I'm not jealous of anything and even if I was I would never let it get in the way."

Kaechia put her hands on her hips, "Honestly, don't drag other people into your problems. You got a problem with Jace then talk to him yourself." She shook her head, "Don't get others to do your dirty work. It's despicable." She stalked back around the building.

"I'm still frozen to the ground," Gideon pointed out.

"You can thaw," Kaechia shrugged.

"How's that going to help us if we're attacked?" Gideon snapped.

Kaechia turned and glared at him harshly, "I can always freeze you completely. You can ask Ral how that feels. I don't appreciate being snapped at thank you." She turned around, "For your information, Chandra and Jace are currently speaking with the guild she works with." She reentered Sun's Reprieve. _Being in charge of these morons is more trouble than it's really worth. However, Chandra put her trust in me so I will do my best._ Kaechia sat back down.

"It wasn't really that bad," Lylly muttered, "You didn't have to freeze him to the ground for it."

"I did," Kaechia stated firmly, "If you don't stand up for yourself then no one will believe you. It's something you can't rely on others to do for you all the time. I did it this time but confidence is honestly something people learn." She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead as an explosion sounded from Ral's corner of the building. _I swear that idiot's going to bring down this entire building. _

Chandra led Jace through the door, "So I noticed Gideon is currently thawing outside the building."

Kaechia nodded.

"What'd he do?"

"He decided to be an idiot," Kaechia shrugged.

Jace cocked his head to the side, "It goes deeper than that doesn't it?"

"It'd be nice if you would not stick your nose into business that doesn't concern you," Kaechia said calmly.

"Fine," Jace went up the stairs to the library.

"So what happened?" Chandra asked. _Please tell me it isn't as bad I think it was._

"Gideon decided to ask Lylly if he knew anything about what Jace did in the library," Kaechia shrugged.

Chandra let her head fall into the table. _It was worse than I thought it was._ "You confronted him about it and froze him to the ground," she concluded.

"Yes."

_Like Lylly would know. Of course then again if Jace met the kid's eyes when his magic was active then he'd be able to get even Jace to do anything he wanted. That would include telling him exactly what he does in great detail. Gideon you dumbass. _Chandra shook her head, "Great. Just wonderful." She got to her feet and walked outside to where Gideon was just beginning to thaw. She sat down in front of him, "So Kaechia told me what happened."

Gideon sighed, "I had no ill intentions. It just bugged me that I don't know what he does. No one does."

"Of course you didn't intend anything bad," Chandra nodded, "but the point still stands. If Jace and Lylly were to have a falling out because of something you asked Lylly to do then the precarious piece Kaechia and I," _Mostly me,_ "work so hard to maintain could crumble to dust."

Gideon nodded, "My apologies. I didn't think of it that way."

_Of course you didn't. You just wanted to know what Jace was doing so you could get him in trouble._ She sighed, "That's fine but don't do this again."

Gideon looked at her in surprise, "Since when were you the type to forgive?"

"I haven't forgiven you," Chandra corrected, "but I also don't see a reason to thaw the ice that Kaechia trapped you in."

Gideon nodded, "Oh."

Chandra smirked, "You can thaw slowly. It'll be longer than usual because you're on the side of the building that gets very little sunlight." She got to her feet. When she turned back to him her eyes were a bright orange and the tips of her hair flickered like a thousand candles, "And if you do ask Lylly, Ral, Kaechia, Jace, or me to get you information on anyone else in this little group again then I will burn you alive."

Gideon nodded, "I won't do it again."

"Good," Chandra nodded and walked back into the building, "Well that was fun."

"I notice he's not with you," Ral smirked, "Are you going to let him thaw Beautiful?"

Chandra nodded.


	15. Chapter 16

Jace sighed and let his head rest on the edge of the table, "I can't find anything! Even with the books Ral's been bringing in I can't find anything." _Are books on elder dragons really that hard to come by? I mean there's an encyclopedia of dead magic that isn't even in practice anymore! Why can't there be information on elder dragons?_

_ You know the answer to that imbecile._

_ Oh shut up._ Jace took a deep breath and lifted his head off the table.

"Jace!"

"What?" Jace snapped irritably.

The baby dragon stopped where he was, "Well you were back and I was just going to say hi." He flew dejectedly away.

Jace looked after him, "What? Hey!" He got to his feet and followed the dragon out of the library.

_You idiot. Weren't you just looking something up? You don't have time to comfort a dragon that's too sensitive for its own good._

_ He's my friend so keep your opinions to yourself._ Jace caught to him, "Hold on a sec."

The dragon turned to look at him.

"I wasn't mad at you. You can say hi. I don't mind at all," Jace shrugged. _Well this is awkward._

"Okay." The dragon landed on his head.

Jace sighed, "You're going to get too big to sit on my head someday you know." He walked back up the stairs to the library.

"So?" the dragon asked, "That day isn't today so I'm going to sit on your head."

Jace bit his lower lip, "Fine."

Lilianna smiled, "Well today's a nice day isn't it?"

The teenage girl sitting next to her, Kara, smiled, "Yeah it is kinda."

Kallist shrugged, "It's a bit cold for me."

"You're from a more tropical area," Lilianna stated as though it were obvious, "so of course it's cold to you."

Kallist shrugged and stuck out his tongue, "Yeah."

Kara laughed. Her laughing quickly stopped when the entire field was surrounded by people dressed in black body suits. The masks they wore resembled beaks belonging to various birds of prey.

Lilianna's eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here?"

"You quit on us Lili," one man pulled off his mask.

"So what Areu? Now you're going to punish me?" Lilianna got to her feet, "I don't think so."

Kara glanced up at her, "You know them?"

"We've had dealings in the past," Lilianna nodded.

"Oh," Areu shook his head, "That sucks. I guess that since the girl knows we exist we're going to have to kill her. That's alright. The entire village is dead anyway." He smirked, "While you've been sitting out here enjoying your 'nice day' they've all died in silence."

Kara's eyes widened, "But I don't even know who you are!"

Lilianna stepped in front of her, "Lay a finger on her and I'll kill you personally."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be dying soon. But it won't be by your hand," he grinned, "I want to die to Crimson Phoenix. Or better yet, I'll surpass her and my name will go down in history!"

"You're still obsessed with that?" Kallist asked, "That's dumb. No one's ever beaten Crimson Phoenix. What makes you think you could?"

"I'll do it. Just you watch," Areu smirked, "But in order for you to watch I have to leave you two alive. How unfortunate. I'll just kill the girl and be done with it. The dragon had ordered that all three of you be killed but I want you to doubters to see me defeat the infamous Crimson Phoenix."

"The dragon huh?" Lilianna shook her head, "He's been gone for how long now?"

"He was just not heard from or seen since the beginning of this repeat," Areu shrugged. He smirked, "Good bye little one." He pointed a hand gun in between Kara's eyes. He glanced at Lilianna, "Try to block a bullet."

"Damn you," Lilianna hissed. A bullet was fired but not from him. It hit Kara in the back of the ribs. As she fell forward the group surrounding them grabbed and restrained Lilianna and Kallist. Areu stepped on Kara's head and shot her three times in the back, "Enjoy the blood bath, necromancer." He kneeled down in front of Lilianna. Her eyes burned a bright pink-purple, "I'll kill you." _No. Revenge is not the way to go. If I get involved in this conflict then I will die. I'm not going to die this time._

"Let her go," Lilianna recognized the voice.

"Crimson Phoenix!" Areu grinned, "So glad you could join us. And Jace!"

Jace hissed softly, "Look, if I had a choice I wouldn't be here."

"That's too bad," Areu smirked, "Cause now that you are I can—" His eyes crossed and he collapsed to the ground.

Phoenix's eyes narrowed, "Be quiet." She glared at the people around her and flames rose in a circle around her feet, "The rest of you will leave now."

A bullet fired but it bounced off an invisible wall around her.

Phoenix appeared in front of the woman that fired the bullet. A sword of flame cut her down and then Phoenix was gone. She returned to where she was standing.

"It really is Phoenix, we don't stand a chance." They scattered and left.

Lilianna climbed to her feet. She glared at Phoenix, "We're perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves. We don't need you to come rescuing us like we're helpless."

"Sorry, I was asked to," Phoenix shrugged, "and you obviously weren't handling the situation well." She met Lilianna's gaze, "Besides, we could use your help. This is turning out to be more of a hassle than I had anticipated."

"I'm not getting involved," Lilianna snapped, "If I do I will die."

"We take care of each other. If we work together you won't die," Phoenix insisted.

"I'll think about it," Lilianna's eyes narrowed, "Until then leave me alone."

Phoenix nodded. _Everybody's just a bright ray of sunshine this time around aren't they?_

Lilianna stalked away.

"She was lying," Jace muttered, "She's not going to think about it."

"Didn't expect her to," Phoenix sighed. _Well damn. So much for that idea. Shadow I swear one of these days you're going to get me killed. Well I guess Shadow's not to blame. The vampire is the one that keeps requesting that I do this. I should try telling him to screw off one of these days. I wonder what he'd do if I did._

"He'll kill you," Jace muttered.

"I didn't ask for your opinion," Phoenix sighed, "You might be right but then again I can pretty much do what I want so maybe not." She led the way back to Sun's Reprieve.


	16. Chapter 17

Jace sighed, "It might be in the computer but that room is still sealed."

Jace jumped as Chandra stormed into the library unexpectedly, "What do you want?"

Chandra glared at him, "Go down stairs to the main room."

"Why?" Jace asked. _I'm a little busy at the moment._

"Because I said so!" Chandra snarled.

Jace's eyes widened, "Alright. Don't get pissy. I'm going." He got to his feet and reluctantly walked down the stairs. He noticed that Kaechia and Gideon were having a stare down on the couches. He shook his head and leaned against the wall in the corner by the doorway.

Chandra stalked down the stairs followed by Ral and Lylly. Lylly sat next to Kaechia and Ral sat on the back of the couch next to him. Chandra walked to the front of the room and stood there, "I have one question."

"Do tell," Jace muttered.

Chandra silenced him with a dark look.

_She's really not happy. What happened and why'd I have to be dragged into it?_

"What the hell is everybody's problem?" Chandra shook her head, "I can answer that myself." She pointed at Gideon, "You're pissed off because Jace is here." She pointed at Jace, "You're pissed off because everybody else is here and I'm preventing you from leaving." She pointed at Kaechia, "You're pissed off because I'm trying to help these morons get a grip on reality." She pointed to Lylly, "You're minding your own business trying to stay out of any conflict that might arise." She pointed to Ral, "And you are going to blow this place to smithereens!" She softened slightly and shrugged, "Which I don't really mind so much but if you add up all of the little things over the course of one day I'm ready to blow any one of you to hell!" Her eyes narrowed, "And trying to talk it into your thick skulls isn't working so now I'm not giving you a choice. You will listen to me or you will seriously hate life."

"Hate life how?" Jace asked.

Chandra met his gaze defiantly, "Well let's see. I could poison each and every one of you. I could torture you by making you do something you despise with me breathing down your neck or I'll just come up with something else."

"You would poison us?" Gideon asked in shock.

"Are you really so surprised?" Kaechia asked, "She isn't above things like that."

"But your friends," Gideon was still astonished.

Chandra met his gaze, "It would be in your best interests to listen to me so you don't have to go through whatever hell I can come up with for you. I should not have to drag all of you along with me in order for something to get done."

"So what are you wanting us to do, Beautiful?" Ral asked

Chandra pointed to Gideon, "You are going to chill out and stop trying to control every aspect of everyone's lives." She turned to Jace, "Try interacting with people for a change."

"Good luck getting that one," Jace muttered.

Chandra's eyes glowed, "Fine. I can make you interact with people." She turned to Kaechia, "Try judging people based on what they are not what they portray." She glanced at Lylly, "Good job for being sane." She pointed at Ral, "Make something that actually benefits us. Got it?"

Ral nodded, "I already made the electrical system!"

"Make something else," Chandra shrugged, "I don't care what it is as long as you have a practical use for it."

"And what are you going to do?" Jace asked.

"I'm going to try to find the one person I know that can handle this," Chandra snapped. _Because if I have to break up one more fight between any of you I'm going to rip my hair out and strangle all of you with it._ She met Jace's gaze, "That means you're coming along."

"Great," Jace rolled his eyes.

Chandra dragged him out the door, "What the hell?"

"What?" Jace asked.

"I knew you were a pain in the ass but this is stupid," Chandra glared at him, "You're really starting to piss me off."

"Good for you," Jace shrugged.

Her eyes narrowed, "You're pushing me away aren't you?"

"No, I'm just being a pain in the ass," Jace muttered.

"Keep lying. That's fine." She sighed, "All you're doing is hurting yourself."

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Jace asked accusingly, "It's not like I've chosen any of this. You've left me without a choice. You've kept me on a tight leash. How does that make you any better than anybody else that's tried to 'help' me?"

Chandra smirked, "It doesn't. You can hate me if you want to." She shrugged, "But you don't have a choice in the matter and I do what's best for those I care about even if they do hate me for it. Isolation doesn't help anyone. Dealing with your pain alone doesn't help you. Being alone doesn't help you."

"I don't need your help," Jace hissed, "I'll deal with my life my own way."

"How?" Chandra met his gaze, "By running away? That's all you're doing. Running away hurts you more than it helps you."

"Oh what the hell do you know?" Jace snapped, "You don't even know what happened to you in this loop. You don't know this loop at all and you don't know why."

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "I don't need to know what happened to me in this loop to know that running away will get you absolutely nowhere. You're just chasing your tail, Jace. That's all you're doing. That's all running is. You're going in circles."

Jace glared at her, "Like you'd know."

"You know I'm right," Chandra snapped, "Otherwise you'd have argued with me more fiercely."

"Forget it," Jace muttered, "Don't you have someone you're trying to find? Or am I wrong?"

"Yeah," Chandra nodded curtly. _I won't say that was entirely unexpected but something about it seemed off. He never bothered confronting me about it before and I definitely think if he was truly confrontational then this confrontation would've happened a lot sooner. Why then is he confronting me now? He could have just been bottling it up but it seemed different to me._ Her eyes narrowed as she left.


	17. Chapter 18

Jace followed her through the multiverse silently. _This isn't fair. I'm busy at the moment and she has to go dragging me around. I'm not a freaking dog. I don't need a leash and I don't need you. I don't need anyone. I can live life alone. It's not like I haven't been doing it my whole life anyway._ They returned to Sun's Reprieve with nothing to show for the day long search. Chandra let Jace go up to the library before storming back out the door. Jace leaned against the windowsill and watched her pace around the island. He sighed, "She's so pissed off just because we aren't doing what she wants us to. Speaking of controlling every aspect of everyone's lives."

"C'mon Jace, it is frustrating to try to get people you care about to get along with each other," the dragon said. He landed on an empty part of the table.

Jace glanced at him over his shoulder, "I wouldn't know."

"I guess not," he shrugged. He laid his head down on the table and closed his eyes.

Jace returned to staring out the window. _I wonder if I can figure out a way to get her to unseal the door with the computers. I don't understand why she would hide it._ Sudden pain shot through his head, "Ah, what the hell?" He squeezed his eyes shut and dropped to his knees. _What's going on? If she wandered out of range of the binding bracelet I would've felt it in my arm first._ He gritted his teeth.

"Jace are you okay?" the dragon hovered by his head.

"I'm fine," Jace snapped harshly.

He landed on the ground in front of him, "Okay." He sat down and watched him.

_Oh are you in pain?_

"Shut up," Jace hissed. _It's not like you're doing anything to help anyway._

_ Of course not. I can't. I am after all just a voice in your head._

"Then why the hell won't you shut up?" Jace growled. The pain finally subsided. Jace stood back up and returned to the window.

The dragon watched him sadly, "Are you okay now?"

"I told you I was fine," Jace glanced at him. He saw Chandra talking to Echo outside the castle. Echo handed her a box and then left. Jace's eyes narrowed. _What's in the box?_ He watched her walk into the building. He darted out of the library and down the stairs. He followed her to the room with the computers. She unsealed the door and slipped inside. She set the box down on the table that held the monitor and then left the room. The door was closed and sealed behind her. Jace hissed in annoyance. _Dammit. Why can't she just leave it alone? _

"I know you're there," Chandra said evenly.

Jace walked calmly around the corner, "So what?"

She shrugged, "There's no real point in hiding. You may have catlike abilities and features but you're also human."

"And you can sense that?" Jace asked sarcastically.

Her eyes narrowed, "That wasn't the point." They narrowed further, "If you don't get it right now then you never will." She turned and stalked away.

Jace's ears pricked and he watched her disappear down the stairs, "What do you mean I never will?"

She didn't respond.

Jace's eyes narrowed. _What is she talking about? _

_ Told you she was hiding something. What's in the box?_

_ I don't know._ Jace returned to the library. _Is she hiding something? Is there something she isn't telling me? We all know she's an assassin but she's being really vague and not telling us anything that she's doing. She just says she's going somewhere or doing something. It's not like I've ever seen anything beyond the third floor of the inn where she hangs out. _He shook his head. _But if she was hiding something I'd be able to tell. People aren't good at hiding things. It's just human nature. She'd act weird._

_And if she's been hiding something this entire time? Then it wouldn't be weird would it? Those are the most dangerous people._

Jace gritted his teeth, "Even so there's nothing I can do about it so shut up."

_Sure there is. You can develop a higher pain tolerance so you have the ability to ignore the bracelet._

Jace closed his eyes and let his head rest on the edge of the table._ I'm not going to do anything that would heighten my pain tolerance. It's already higher than I'd like it to be._ He accidentally fell asleep.

Chandra's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. _I feel like this go around I'm going to have to be more thoughtful about what I do. This is complicated. I have a hunch but I'd have to prove to Jace that he can't trust me in order to come to a conclusion. If I'm wrong then I'll be screwing myself over. On the other hand if I don't do anything then I'll have a lot longer to wait and if I'm right this can't wait much longer._ "Dammit. I'm caught between a rock and a hard spot."

"Why?" Lylly asked.

She glanced at him, "Because the situation has gotten a little worse."

"Oh," Lylly nodded. He returned to the puzzle he was working on.

She bit her nails thoughtfully. _Then again there's always time. And if this doesn't work you can count on the person that put the loop in place to reset it. I hate how we're all just pawns in their game. Whoever put the loop in place and Bolas. But we don't have much of a choice. The multiverse is their playing field and we live here. That makes it our job to protect it._ Her eyes narrowed, "You manipulative fuckheads. Damn you." _Of course they would leave us with no other choice. It's logical. And every single being in this multiverse is logical at least a little bit. I wouldn't be sitting here if I wasn't. I'd already be causing all sorts of hell. But without logic a person is easily molded and manipulated. _

Lylly was staring at her with wide eyes.

Chandra chuckled, "Sorry. Just had a realization that pissed me off."

Lylly blinked and nodded. He returned quickly to the puzzle.

Chandra shook her head. _And without Elspeth here to get everybody to chill out there might as well be no group at all. _

"Phoenix," Shadow materialized behind Lylly. The kid jumped and turned to look at her in frightened surprise. She smiled, "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." She lifted her head and looked at the redhead, "We've picked up a young girl. She's insisted on meeting you even going as so far as to threaten to find you on her own even though she can barely stand."

Chandra's eyes widened, "Jeez." She darted up the stairs.

"C'mon, Jace. This one is easier," the woman purred, "at least the Templars aren't in it." She smiled, "Yet."

Jace tried desperately to pull free of her grasp, "Let me go!"

"In you go," she pushed him through the doorway.

Jace stumbled and fell backwards. He landed on his back and watched the door close.

"Aren't cats supposed to land on their feet?" she taunted through a speaker.

Jace squeezed his eyes shut. _Not again. Not again. Not again. Not again._ "I don't want to do this anymore."

"Too bad." The walls began to close in on him. As they got closer they picked up speed, "You don't have a choice, Kitty Cat."

Jace scrambled to his feet and darted down the corridor. He stumbled away from the edge of a pit just as fire spewed out of it. The pit wasn't wide. Arrows started shooting out of the walls behind him. He glanced to the side and saw arrow hole right where he was standing as well. He swallowed nervously. _I'd rather get burned._ He jumped over the flames just as they died. An axe attached to the ceiling cut his arm as it swung over him. He gritted his teeth and continued.

By the time he finished the maze he was out of breath and covered with cuts bruises and burns.

"Next level."

Jace fought back the tears that blurred his vision as a door closed behind him and another one opened in front of him. He pricked his ears as the sounds of Templars shambling through the corridors of the maze reached them. He swallowed nervously.

"Get a move on, Cat." The walls began closing in.

Jace's ears flattened and he hurried down the corridor.

Jace jerked and opened his eyes. He stared at the floor of the library and took a deep breath. _God dammit. Why the hell did I fall asleep?_

"Jace," Chandra opened the door of the library.

Jace lifted his head. His expression was completely blank, "What?"

"I have to go do something meaning you have to come along," she said vaguely.

"Like what?" Jace asked.

"Talk to someone," Chandra shrugged, "Let's go. You can bring a book if you want."

Jace grabbed the book that was on the table and reluctantly followed her. He shook his head. _Just forget it._

_ You can't. It will always haunt you. Do you really want more people to pay for your screw ups? You will inevitably screw up since there isn't anything you can do right._

Jace gritted his teeth. _Shut up. Just shut up. Don't you dare bring that up._

Phoenix followed Shadow back to the inn. She left Jace in the central room of the third floor and shot up the stairs. Her eyes widened, "Orriyon?"

She stared at her, "Chandra." She smiled but it faded quickly. She looked at her hands before looking back at her, "The phoenix will be pulled from the sky by the claws of a cat."

Phoenix stared at her, "Well that's just brilliant.


	18. Chapter 19

"What was that all about?" Jace asked as Chandra walked calmly down the stairs.

She glanced at him, "Nothing." She continued towards the door.

Jace grabbed her arm, "That wasn't nothing. If you had to drag me all the way out here—"

Chandra punched him in the face before he could finish. Jace stumbled backwards and pressed the back of his hand against his nose. She stared at him with cold hard eyes, "If you have something to say you can say it without touching me."

Jace stared at her before lowering his gaze, "Fine." He followed her back to Sun's Reprieve.

She beat him to the stairs and disappeared up them quickly.

Jace cocked his head to the side and followed her. He saw her disappear into the room with the computers. The door was sealed the moment she closed it. His eyes narrowed. _That was definitely weird. Why'd she just disappear like that? _

_ Now do you believe me? She's hiding something. Why else would she hit you when you tried to figure out what she was doing?_

Jace studied the ground as he slowly made his way to the library. _But why would she hide something? One would think she'd hide the fact that she's an assassin but we all know that she is. I can't think of anything else she'd hide._

_That's the point you moron. If you don't know what she's hiding then she's obviously hiding it very well._

Jace sat down in a chair and tapped his fingers on the table.

"You aren't going to read?" the dragon asked.

Jace shook his head distractedly. He watched his fingers tap the table.

Chandra bit her nails thoughtfully. She sat forward and turned on the device Echo had given her. _I swear if this doesn't work I'm going to kill you._ She turned the volume low, "Star had to have helped her with this." _Hearing the voices in other people's heads is really weird. I'm not a telepath so I'm not used to hearing everything._ The device itself was similar to a pair of headphones that were attached to the bracer that she strapped to her arm. _I swear I'm going to end up like Ral by the end of this. There's a reason I don't carry around a whole bunch of random gadgets no matter how handy they might have the chance to be. It's so awkward._ She stared at the computer screen and listened to the voices she heard. She shook her head. _I swear after this I'm never doing this again. This shit is creepy. I don't want to be a telepath! I guess there's a reason I'm not. To a telepath this would be normal._ She sighed, "This almost isn't even worth it." _But what other choice do I have? It'll drive me crazy if I continue to have a hunch without being able to prove it. _She rolled her eyes. Suddenly her eyes narrowed. _What? SO I WAS RIGHT!_ She stood up, "Wait." She sat back down. _I have to wait. Dammit I hate waiting. I really hate waiting. Why would Bolas be trying to convince Jace that he can't trust me? I mean why target me solely? What the hell happened to everybody else? It would make sense if he didn't see any of the rest as a threat but wouldn't he know better? _She stared at the ceiling, "God this is such a pain in the ass." She moved to take the headphones off her head when another voice caught her attention. She sat up, "What?" _Gideon? It's not Bolas. _She cocked her head to the side and listened more carefully, "But whoever they are they're saying exactly the same things. Don't trust me." She pouted, "What the hell? Why me?" _Why am I such a problem? I don't get it._ She pulled the headphones off her head, "I've had enough. That was creepy as hell. I now know I was right about Jace and that's all I really need to know for now." _I'll deal with Gideon later._ "Ah dammit!"

There was a knock on the door.

Chandra froze and turned, "Yeah?"

"Uh, Beautiful?" Ral stared on the other side of the door.

"What?"

"Gideon and Jace aren't…well…"

"Well what?" Chandra asked.

"Just come down stairs," she heard him walk away. She sighed and slid the headphones around her neck. She hurried down the stairs. Her eyes widened. Kaechia was holding an ice wall in the doorway leading to the main room of the castle. "What's going on?"

"Jace and Gideon are fighting," Kaechia glared at Ral, "That's what I told you to tell her!"

"That's a lot harder than it sounds, Snowflake," Ral shrugged.

"Let me in," Chandra's face steeled.

Kaechia's eyes widened. _I've never seen her like this. _She nodded and created a hole in the ice. Chandra saw the mess that was on the other side. She also felt the insanely high mana concentration on the other side of the door. Her wings spread from her back and she shot forward. A sword appeared in her right hand and she caught Gideon's sural with a flick of her wrist. She twisted, slamming Gideon into the wall and kicking Jace in the opposite direction. Her eyes sparked angrily, "Kaechia you can bring down the wall now." She glared at them angrily, "What the hell are you two doing?"

Jace sat up first, "What does it look like?" His eyes narrowed. "Beautiful," he sneered.

Chandra grabbed his collar and slammed him into the wall, "What?"

"Oh so Ral can call you that but I can't?" Jace asked.

"You can call me Beautiful if you want to but you aren't going to mock me," Chandra hissed dangerously.

Gideon's eyes narrowed, "That was uncalled for Cat."

Jace's eyes flashed, "Don't you dare call me that."

Chandra dropped him, "That's enough both of you." She turned to Gideon, "What happened?" She glared at Jace as he started to head towards the stairs, freezing him in his tracks, "Just because my back is turned doesn't mean you can just disappear."

Jace rolled his eyes, "I can if I want."

Chandra opened her mouth then closed it again.

Jace's eyes narrowed.

Ral's eyes widened, "Is it me or are all three of them acting a little odd?"

Kaechia shook her head, "They're all definitely not being themselves."

The dragon swallowed nervously and floated in the doorway.

Lylly came down the stairs and stopped, "Uh what happened?"

"The two of them got into a fight and the three of them are on the verge of fighting each other. I'd go back upstairs if I were you, Fangs," Ral explained.

Lylly nodded and disappeared back up the stairs.

Kaechia nodded, "That's actually a good idea. I'm surprised." She led Ral up the stairs.


	19. Chapter 20

Gideon opened his mouth then lowered his gaze, "It's complicated."

Chandra clenched her fists, "And you expect me to be able to work with an 'It's complicated'? Are you really that stupid?"

"Why do you need to know?" Jace asked coldly.

Chandra glared at him over her shoulder, "So I can help."

"You aren't helping," Jace shrugged. His face hardened, "You're micromanaging, making yourself a hypocrite."

Chandra turned so she was fully facing him. She opened her mouth but Gideon beat her to the response, "Micromanaging is sometimes required, Cat."

Jace's eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth, "I said don't call me that."

"I may be a hypocrite," Chandra shrugged indifferently, "but everyone has a moment where they are a hypocrite." Her eyes narrowed, "Isn't that right, Cat?"

Jace's eyes widened, "What?" He stared at her before taking a step back, "Why would you—"

"To get a reaction obviously," Chandra sighed, "You obviously have a problem with being called it. Why?"

Jace gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He lowered his head and stared at the ground before disappearing.

Chandra sighed and shook her head.

"Why would he respond so differently when you call him it?" Gideon asked.

Chandra shrugged. She grabbed the back of his collar and slammed him into the ground as he walked past her, "I'll deal with him later. Right now you're going to tell me exactly what happened." She kneeled down in front of him. Her eyes burned brightly and flames crawled along her skin, "And you're going to tell me everything."

"Chandra, you're acting really weird," Gideon commented warily.

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "You didn't answer my question when I first asked it. In order to be of any help I have to know what happened."

Gideon sighed, "He got all bent out of shape."

"Because you called him Cat?" Chandra concluded.

Gideon nodded, "I called him Cat yes and he got overly pissed off."

Chandra cocked her head to the side. _Jace might not have been overreacting. I don't know what kind of problem he has with that nickname. I probably shouldn't have called him that but it's already done now. I'll apologize once I'm dealing with Jace and not Bolas._ "Then what?"

"He called me something I really didn't appreciate. I tried to stay calm but he wouldn't keep his mouth shut."

"Of course he didn't," Chandra glanced at the ground. She stood up and turned away.

"What's with the headphones? You're starting to look like the tinkerer," Gideon commented.

"Nothing," Chandra walked out the door and up the stairs. _I'll have to deal with Gideon later. I think Jace is the bigger problem. Well Bolas is the bigger problem._ She went up to the library to find it sealed. She sighed, "Jace."

He didn't respond.

She smirked, "Of course you aren't going to answer me." She sighed, "Sorry." She turned and started to walk away.

"Like you mean it," Jace muttered. He stared at the book in front of him.

_ Of course she doesn't mean it. She's just using you like everyone else has used you._

Jace bit his lower lip.

_Did you really think she was any different? You spent enough of your time trying to convince yourself she wasn't. Now she's proven it and you're still going to sit here._

Jace glanced around at the library. The dragon was sound asleep on the couch on the side farthest from him and there were plenty of bookshelves. Otherwise the room was completely empty. _It's not like I have much of a choice. The binding bracelet keeps me from leaving._

_You've worked through pain worse than that little thing before. Are you telling me you're giving up? Or are you still trying to convince yourself she isn't different from everyone else?_

Jace got to his feet and walked over to the door.

"Where're you going?" the dragon asked sleepily.

"Not far," Jace glanced at him, "Stay put for me."

The dragon nodded, "Okay." He studied Jace closely. _Something definitely off this time. _He shrank back into the couch. _I've never been afraid of him before. No it's not him I'm afraid of._ He swallowed nervously.

Jace left the room.

He stared at the door, "It's the other one." He got up and flew out of the room. His eyes widened as Jace planeswalked on his own, "What about the bracelet?"

"I told you to stay put," Jace snapped, "and it doesn't really matter. I've been through worse."

The dragon saw the faintest hint of green from the eye under his hair.

Jace disappeared.

The dragon flew quickly to the computer room. He arrived just as it flew open. Chandra hurried down the stairs, "I knew it. Yes!"

"Yes?" The dragon asked.

She smiled at him, "All I had to do was get Jace to isolate himself further so that the Dragon would have an easier time influencing him completely."

The dragon stared at him, "So you hurt him on purpose?"

Chandra nodded, "I hurt him now to help him later." She shrugged, "It'll work out." _It always has in the past. Now all I have to do is find him. That's easier said than done. Unfortunately I can only use the bracelet to track him if I'm on the same world. It'll beep once I reach the world he's on but there are so many out there. _"Well where would Bolas go?" _Ravnica? Well I guess there's no harm in checking._

She spent a good amount of time scouring the multiverse for any trace of him. _Dammit. Dammit. Dammit._

Lilianna and Kallist appeared in front of her.

Phoenix sighed, "What? I don't really have time to—"

"I know where Jace is," Lilianna interrupted her.

Phoenix's eyes widened, "What?"

"I know where Jace is," Lilianna repeated calmly.

She followed Lilianna to a building that had been built using the reinforced ruins around it.

Lilianna nodded to the building," Jace's inside.

_Now you need to find two items so I can return to my original body. _

Jace's eyes widened. He shook his head, "Stop it. Just stop it."

_Jace! Listen to me. There's no reason for you to rely on anyone else. I have been there for you this entire time._

Jace shook his head. _You're just the same as he was. You always call me an idiot and degrade me. I don't need you!_

_And the redhead doesn't? The lightning mage doesn't even call you by your name._

"It's different when they do it. It's different."

_Jace, that's enough._

"Yeah that is enough." Chandra dropped from the roof. She smirked, "And now I know all I need to know."

"You imbecile! You can't stop me now," Jace snapped hatefully.

Chandra shook her head, "You couldn't hide from me, not forever. Finding you out was only a matter of time."

Lilianna and Kallist walked around two corners and stood beside her.

Lilianna smiled, "And you, you moron, get to take on this numbskull."

"You dare insult me?"

Lilianna smirked, "Sure. You're not that scary. You're just a spoiled brat with a god complex. And now that you're a cat you're even more ridiculous."

"I'm not a cat!"

"Oh don't go getting all butt hurt," Chandra smirked, "cause you are a cat."

Jace shot forward, "Shut up!"

Chandra dodged his first attack and allowed her mind to go completely blank to prevent him from reading it. That however didn't stop him from summoning Echo's energy bow to his hands. _Well hellfire._ She smirked and swords composed entirely of flame solidified in her hands. She took to the air and threw a fireball that left Jace in a crater. _Of course he wasn't touched. Dammit._ She sighed. The swords disappeared. _Looks like I'll have to fight dirty._

Jace leaped out of the crater and from the left hand wall to the right until he was even with her. He twisted and fired an arrow. Chandra burst into flames, dissipating the arrow. Phoenix shot forward, over Jace and caught his shoulders as she dove. She flipped and slammed him into the ground. He landed on his feet and back flipped. Phoenix landed behind him and wrapped her arm around his neck. He used his foot to knock her feet out from under her, landing on top of her before wriggling free. She caught his ankle with her feet and twisted, forcing him to roll to the side. She grabbed onto his back and bit his shoulder.

"Ah!" Jace tried to dislodge her, "That hurts. Would you stop?"

Phoenix knocked him forward onto the ground.

Jace growled. The green eye glowed brighter and black mana welled up inside of him.

Phoenix bit down harder, hurting his concentration.

"Will you stop and just let me," he managed to finally knock her off but she grabbed his face and slammed the back of his head into the ground, again breaking his concentration. He bit her hand.

"You jerk!" She pulled her hand away, "That's my trick. You aren't supposed to copy it."

Jace smirked, "Why not?" He started again.

"I don't think so you slimy piece of scrap!" Phoenix grabbed his collar and lifted him off the ground. She slammed him back into it.

Jace gave up on the spell and kicked her off of him. _She's too fast for me to do anything complicated._

Phoenix flipped and landed on her feet. She shot forward, using her wings as a speed and power boost and knocked him into the wall hard enough to get it to crumble.

Jace managed to put a shield at his back that kept him from breaking. He shook his head to clear it as it started to spin, "Damn you."

"How about you go to hell?" Phoenix snarled.

Jace grabbed her arms and twisted, slamming her into the wall, "How'd that feel?"

She smirked and erupted into flames that filled the hallway.

Jace leaped back and put up a shield. He still got burned though.

Phoenix appeared through the flames and knocked him into the ground. Jace caught her and flipped her, bringing her with him as he crashed into the ground.

Kallist looked around, "They'll destroy the place."

"The world doesn't have anyone living on it except us anyway," Lilianna shrugged.

"The world?" Kallist stared at her in shock, "You really think this fight could destroy this world?"

"It very well could," Lilianna shrugged indifferently.

Kallist's eyes widened, "What?"

Phoenix wrapped her ankles around his head and threw him to her right.

Jace flipped and landed on his feet. He cast a devastating black spell in the moment it took Phoenix to reach him. The entire building began to crumble and every living plant wilted away. Phoenix resisted the effects of the spell. However it did weaken her significantly. Jace knocked her into the wall. Phoenix grabbed his collar and slammed her forehead into his. Jace's eyes widened and he shook his head, "Ow. That hurt." Phoenix smirked, "It was supposed to." She forcefully turned him around and wrapped one arm around his neck while the other one held his right arm behind his back, "Lilianna, a little help would be nice."

Lilianna smirked, "Maybe if you'd ask nicely."

Phoenix gritted her teeth, "Can you please help me?"

Lilianna nodded. She ran her hand along Jace's cheek, "Good night."

Jace went limp. Phoenix let him go and let him drop to the ground.

Lilianna glared at her, "You could have at least set him down gently."

Phoenix shook her head, "I'm not treating him gently until Bolas is gone." She grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him out of the crumbling building.

Lilianna followed, "You're really cruel you know that brat?"

"You can call me whatever you want to," Phoenix shrugged, "I don't give a damn. At least I didn't bail on him."

"You trapped him," Lilianna snapped, "You tried to put a cat on a leash. You got what you deserve."

"And you didn't?" Phoenix asked coldly.

"Not this time I haven't," Lilianna shrugged. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"So that somehow makes you more right?" Phoenix snapped. She rolled her eyes, "I don't have time for this." She opened the extra dimensional gate that would take her to the Lotus Inn on Ravnica. "You have my permission to enter but don't do anything stupid or incriminating," Phoenix warned. She dragged Jace into the inn. Unfortunately Lilianna's spell didn't last long. He started to struggle. At first his struggles were weak but they got steadily stronger. Phoenix growled, "I don't have the patience for you right now."

"You're dragging me around like I'm some dead animal," Jace hissed angrily.

"Oh can it," Phoenix snapped.

"It's entirely degrading!" Jace tried to jerk free of her grasp.

The tips of her hair began to spark, "Stop it."

"Let go of me! You won't be able to reach Jace you imbecile. This is my body and my power now."

Lilianna burst out laughing, "Trust her to do what you thought was impossible. I said something similar once and you know how wrong I was."

"Even if you do reach him you won't be able to get rid of me."

Phoenix's eyes narrowed, "That's enough out of you." She let him go long enough for him to stand up. Then she grabbed his face and, using her wings as a power and speed boost, she slammed the back of his head into a nearby wall. The wall broke and started to fall apart. Jace went limp again and slid down the wall to the floor. Her eyes burned a bright orange, "Trust me. I'll get rid of you."


	20. Chapter 21

It didn't take long for Jace to regain consciousness. When he did he started to struggle. "God dammit! Let me GO!"

"Not happening," Phoenix dragged him into a room lined in lead.

"No!" Jace struggled against her violently, "I said let me GO!"

Phoenix grabbed his bangs and pulled on them as hard as she could.

His head jerked back, "Let me go." He glared at her dangerously.

"Make me," she snapped. She looked past him at the doorway, "DRAGON!"

"Coming!"

Jace's right eye was a terrifying opaque bright pale green while his left was the same blue his eyes normally were.

Dragon appeared in the doorway, "What's up with him?"

"I have a name you imbecile!" Jace snapped harshly.

Phoenix rolled her eyes, "Keep the insults to a minimum, kay?"

"You can't tell me what to do!" Jace continued to try to free himself from her grasp.

She had to wrestle him to the ground to keep her grip on him.

"You aren't going to be able to hold me forever," Jace promised. His tone was not one she had ever heard Jace actually speak in. It was dark and filled with cold hatred. She smirked, "Good for you. If you're lucky then I won't be holding you for long." She looked up at the half dragon standing beside her, "Get him up onto to the thing over there." She pointed to the bedlike piece of furniture in the center of the room. It was obviously set up for a situation similar to the one they were currently in. The bed was made entirely of lead and had lead-lined thick leather straps attached to it. Dragon held Jace down while Phoenix strapped him down, "Have fun breaking out of those." She darted out of the room. Dragon followed her.

Ral looked up as Chandra approached him, "I need you and Gideon to do something really important for me."

"Like what Beautiful?" Ral asked.

Chandra paused, "Entertain Jace for me. Just keep him preoccupied for as long as it takes for me to do what I need to do."

"Why?" Gideon asked.

"Let's just say that Jace isn't himself," Chandra shrugged, "and you can't tell him anything. Nothing. All you can tell him is I told you not to tell him anything. That's it."

"Okay?" Ral still looked confused.

"C'mon." she led them to the Lotus Inn on Ravnica. She hurried up the stairs and to the room next door to the one Jace was in. She led them up to a second level of the room.

"Why is he strapped to that thing?" Ral asked.

"Okay, it's not really Jace," Chandra looked at both of them, "Well not completely. Anyway, don't tell him anything." She disappeared out the door.

"What's going on?" Jace asked. He looked shocked and confused, "Why am I strapped to this thing?"

"Can't tell you," Ral shrugged, "sorry Cat Ears."

"Chandra wouldn't tell us anyway," Gideon added, "she just said to talk to you."

Jace looked at him.

Gideon's eyes widened when he saw his eyes. His hair had been brushed out of his face and his right eye was an opaque green. Gideon exchanged glances with Ral.

Phoenix walked up to Dawn, "I need you to do something for me." She explained the situation and her plan as she walked back to the room.

Dawn looked more and more shocked as Phoenix continued.

"I need you to make an antidote," Phoenix finished.

Dawn glared at her, "Are you insane? That'll kill him!"

Phoenix met her gaze with a dark look in her eyes, "Dawn, I just need you to do what I've asked."

Dawn gritted her teeth, "Fine but if he dies there's no getting him back."

"I know," Phoenix nodded.

"Beautiful, you're going to kill him?" Ral asked.

"You can't kill me," Jace snapped.

"Shut your trap," Phoenix responded, "or I'll shut it for you." She turned to Ral, "No."

Ral nodded uncertainly, "Alright."

Gideon stilled looked opposed to the whole idea. _I may dislike him but that doesn't mean I want him dead. _"Isn't there a better way to solve this than killing him?"

"I'm not killing him," Phoenix snapped.

"You can't kill me," Jace hissed.

Phoenix glared at him, "Oh quit the act. No one's invincible."

Jace's eyes narrowed, "A god is."

"We'll see about that," Phoenix smirked, "besides, you're no god. You're just a cat."

His face and tone changed in an instant. "I'm not a cat!" Jace cried indignantly, "I'm just a regular person that happens to have cat features."

Phoenix shook her head, "You seem like a cat to me."

Jace pouted, "I am not."

Dawn walked back in. She had two vials with her, "Here."

"What are you doing?" Jace asked. The pitch of his voice rose in fear.

"Nothing," Phoenix said.

Jace watched her with wide eyes, "This doesn't look like nothing."

Phoenix put a single drop of a scarlet liquid from one of the vials Dawn gave her on the tip of a small knife. She undid the strap that held down his forearm, leaving his wrist and upper arm bound.

Dawn shook her head, "I'm still against this."

"He'll survive," Phoenix promised.

"You can't be positive," Dawn muttered.

"What do you mean survive?" Jace asked.

Phoenix ignored him. She took the knife and sliced all the way up his forearm with the very tip of it.

Jace's eyes widened at the pain of the knife slicing through his skin. He gritted his teeth at the pain that followed. He could only assume that it was a poison. _Why would she poison me?_ His mind blanked as the pain became unbearable. He could feel his skin ripping apart. His veins burned and it became harder and harder to breathe. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Bolas hissed. He felt the same pain that Jace did. It made thinking difficult and it was getting very hard to breath as well.

Gideon left. _I'm not watching someone suffer for no reason._

Ral found that he could not look away. It was horrible to watch but also fascinating. He had never seen a poison that looked this painful. He thought this poison was just a story but it was obviously very real. _I would ask Cat Ears what it feels like but then that'd probably be cruel._ Ral shook his head, "Nah. I'll just let him forget about the experience."

Dawn glared at Phoenix, "You're going to kill him."

"He's not screaming," Phoenix shrugged.

"That's just a sign of his pain tolerance!" Dawn snapped, "And in case you hadn't noticed if he wasn't so stubborn he would be."

Phoenix sighed, "He's not going to die." She glanced up. _Star has Bolas pulled out yet?_

_No. He's still holding on stubbornly._

"Damn," Phoenix sighed. Her gaze returned to Jace.

Ral could see that he was trying to curl into a ball but couldn't because he was strapped down. He hissed under his breath, "This looks awful."

Phoenix sighed, "Is he gone yet?"

_No._

"Dammit!" Phoenix growled. _If Bolas really is going to be that way then Jace's dead. I mean that's not terrible. It means no one gets that kind of an advantage. And if I can figure out a way to preserve his soul so to speak then he won't technically be dead. _She took a deep breath, "We're not there yet."

"He's going to die," Dawn repeated.

"No he's not," Phoenix insisted. _Bolas may be stubborn but he's not stupid. He doesn't want to die. He can't ascend to god of the multiverse if he's dead._

Bolas growled. He pulled away from Jace. He felt rage rise up inside him. "Areu," he hissed.

"Yes Sir," Areu looked at him calmly.

"Kill her. Kill that redheaded assassin." _Now we know how far she's willing to go. Let's see if she can hold up against him._

"Of course Sir," Areu nodded. _Finally I get to realize my dream. I can finally fight the infamous Crimson Phoenix._ "I was wondering when this day would come, Crimson Phoenix."

Phoenix grinned, "Told you! I told you he wasn't going to die!"

"He passed out and it's going to take a week at least for him to wake up let alone be able to do anything productive," Dawn snapped, "and if he remembers this he's going to hold a grudge against you until the day he dies."

"Nah, just put a book within easy reach and where he can see it when he wakes up. Everything will be forgiven," Phoenix smiled.

Dawn shook her head, "You can't always rely on what happened this time."

Phoenix nodded, "I know." She looked up at Ral, "Put him in a room." She unstrapped him. Almost instantly Jace curled into a ball. He whined softly. Phoenix shook her head, "Sorry you had to go through that."

Ral entered the room and looked around, "You can still feel the tension in here."

Phoenix smirked, "Well yeah. You're still tense too so I don't want to hear you talking."

Ral shrugged.

Phoenix sighed, "Put Jace in a room that gets a lot of sunlight so it'll be warm."

"Alright," Ral nodded._ I have the perfect room in mind!_ He grinned as Phoenix left. He cackled, "Consider it payback for making me entertain his temporary dual personalities." He nodded to himself. He returned to the lead lined room.

Phoenix was passed out, sitting against the wall of the room. Ral quickly noticed how exhausted and beat up she looked. He hadn't noticed it before but she was definitely injured.

Dawn kneeled down next to her. She glanced at Ral, "When she wakes up you're dead."

Ral shrugged, "It was well worth it though."

Dawn shook her head and chuckled, "I'll remind you of that when you start complaining."

Orriyon stared out the window. She smiled, "So the phoenix managed to stay in the sky." Her smile faded to a very sad look, "But her wings are broken."


	21. Chapter 22

Many weeks had passed since Phoenix had poisoned Jace. She was sitting in the dining area of the inn. Orriyon sat across from her and was watching Ral tease Jace. Orriyon glanced at the redhead, "How long are you going to ignore Ral?"

"Haven't decided yet," Phoenix shrugged. She clearly remembered Ral putting Jace in her room. His explanation had made sense so she had decided not to kill him but had been ignoring him since. The lightning mage had tried to use Gideon as a go between but to no avail. Once Jace had been able to move around Ral had tried to convince him to talk to Phoenix on his behalf to which Jace had quickly shook his head.

"Everyone's so different," Orriyon looked around.

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask how you remembered in the first place," Phoenix sat up and looked at the girl in front of her.

"I've always remembered," Orriyon shrugged, "I remember every single loop I've ever existed in. But I can't ever say anything or no one would know what I'm talking about. My ability to see the future and any possible future makes me outside of the loop. I'm born with the memories and knowledge of every previous loop."

"Wow," Phoenix nodded, "So remember everything?"

"You and Jace used to be partners under Bolas. It was because all of your siblings were killed and Bolas promised you a chance at revenge. Jace had spent a lot longer with Tezzeret in that one and was really cold and ruthless. Part of that version is still with both of you," Orriyon explained, "I see all the different versions in the little things. The way your eyes flash when you're angry or the way Jace taps the table when he's anxious," Orriyon shrugged, "It's all there."

"But isn't each version different?" Phoenix asked.

"Only a little," Orriyon shrugged, "Except for this loop, each of you developed a little bit more with each repeat. Sure you developed throughout the repeat but the heart isn't easily swayed. Strong emotions can follow someone for multiple lifetimes."

"What this time?" Phoenix asked curiously.

"Bolas remembered the previous loop. Seeing it as his chance to claim as many of you as possible he manipulated everything."

"I knew that, but how?"

"I'm not sure. Gideon was never as distrustful as he is right now. He's never trusted Jace at first but easily warmed up to him in the way that Gideon does. He still dislikes Jace enough that he wouldn't be likely to sacrifice for him," Orriyon pointed out, "Some of you have leaped forward in your development while others are many repeats behind where they should be."

"Alright," Phoenix nodded.

Echo walked up, "Here." She handed the redheaded assassin a pair of headphones, "I've updated it. It no longer has to connect to any sort of device for you to be able to hear it."

"I really dislike being able to hear other people's thoughts," Phoenix shook her head but too the headphones from Echo anyway.

"Yes well, it's helpful," Echo snapped, "You said that yourself."

"Yeah, yeah," Phoenix rolled her eyes. She hung the headphones around her neck.

"They're also easy to hear around," Echo added as she walked away.

"What are those?" Ral asked.

Phoenix ignored him.

"Beautiful c'mon!" Ral pleaded, "It's been weeks! Can't I be forgiven now?"

Phoenix continued ignore him.

Ral stuck out his tongue and turned away, "Snowflake!"

"What?" Kaechia sounded exasperated.

Phoenix couldn't help but laugh, "And now he goes and whines to someone else about how unfair I am."

Jace sat down warily next to her, "Are we going to stay here forever?"

"Why do you ask? Are you already missing your library?"

"Already?" Jace's cat-like blue eyes flashed angrily, "We've been here for weeks."

"Yeah, yeah," Phoenix sighed, "Lighten up. We'll go back eventually."

Jace noticed the headphones around her neck, "What are those?"

"Headphones," Phoenix smirked.

Jace's eyes narrowed, "Good to know." He got up and walked over to an empty corner.

Phoenix laughed to herself. She covered her ears with the headphones, "Kaechia!"

"Yes?"

"Where's Gideon?"

"He went back to hold down the fort," Kaechia explained. She turned to Ral, "Please stop whining." Her gaze returned to Chandra, "Apparently he didn't trusts Kallist and Lilianna to not make any trouble if they remained there unguarded."

Phoenix's eyes narrowed, "Alright." She got to her feet and brushed herself off for no real reason, "Let's go." She turned to Orriyon, "You can stay here if you like. I'm sure Star wouldn't mind teaching you a thing or two about stuff."

Orriyon nodded, "Okay."

Phoenix led the way back to the castle that floated in the sky. Word about the castle and it's inhabitants was spreading across the multiverse. It was called the Flying Castle by most and the planeswalkers residing in it were considered crazy by some and idolized by others. Phoenix smirked in satisfaction. _Hey if they think we're crazy then they're likely to avoid the Flying Castle. Gideon would probably be happy for a potential army he can make from our admirers. _She shook her head, "Wow."

"Wow what Beautiful?" Ral asked curiously.

"Just how much attention we've gotten. Mostly from people that don't know about other worlds anyway," Phoenix sighed. _Are there really that many planeswalkers in the multiverse? I definitely thought there was a lot fewer. That just goes to show how much I know._ She walked up to the door and opened it quickly.

Kallist and Gideon stood nose to nose in front of her. Phoenix stared at them for a second, "Really? We just got home and you've already started fighting?"

"I did not start it," Gideon insisted.

Phoenix sighed, "What happened?"

_He's really grating on my last nerve at the moment. Lilianna and I didn't even do anything. We'd never do anything to the kid. _Kallist took a steadying breath, "Lylly's missing and Gideon automatically starting blaming us for his disappearance."

Phoenix nodded and looked at Gideon, "Well?"

_She's an assassin. She can't be trusted to do the right thing. She's just as likely to kill you as she is to help you. _Gideon gritted his teeth, "I don't trust them at all and since we've left them alone Lylly's disappeared."

Phoenix blew air into her cheeks.

"Beautiful you look like a squirrel," Ral snickered.

Phoenix glared at him, "So?" She turned back to Gideon and Kallist, "Okay. Kallist go to a room in the northwestern corner of the castle on the top floor. Gideon go to a room in the southeastern corner of the building on the bottom floor. Kallist go ahead and take Lilianna with you." She looked at Gideon, "I'll look into it and until I figure out what's happened the three of you will not move from the rooms I've told you to be in. Got it?"

Kallist nodded.

Gideon begrudgingly agreed.

Phoenix watched them disappear, "I didn't know I had to treat men that are older than me like ten year old kids that decided to steal something from me."


	22. Chapter 23

Chandra turned to Ral and Kaechia, "You guys search in here. Lylly had a jumper so there are only a handful of worlds he could be on. Jace and I are going to look on those worlds."

Jace glanced at the golden band around his wrist. He could clearly remember everything that had happened even while Bolas had been in his head. He had however decided to pretend he didn't remember. Of course doing so had gotten him a lot of unnecessary explanations. He didn't like having to follow Chandra around because she had a tendency to wander and get lost and turned around on herself and he was pretty positive she did that just to annoy him. She also didn't bother taking into account any possible traps they might run into and ignored Jace when he tried to convince her to be more cautious.

"Jace! Hello!"

Jace jumped and looked at her, "What?"

"We're leaving," she led the way to Regatha. She paused. The two of them were standing on a mountain looking down into forest and plains with the ocean barely visible to Jace on the horizon, farther than Chandra would be able to see. "I doubt he's here but it's still worth a look."

Jace glanced at her as she picked her way down the mountain, "What's with the headphones?" He had a much easier time than her getting down the mountain path, jumping easily from one rock to another.

"They're a fashion statement," Chandra muttered.

"There has to be a practical use," Jace insisted, "Otherwise Echo wouldn't have been the one to give them to you."

"Oh be quiet, I said it was a fashion statement."

Jace rolled his eyes, "No matter how many times you say that I'm not going to believe you."

"Good for you," Chandra stuck her tongue out at him. Suddenly she looked serious, "Hey Jace are we being followed?"

Jace's eyes narrowed. He looked back up the way they had come. His ears pricked and he slowly scanned the trail. It was one of the most dangerous routes down the mountain meaning anyone following them would have to be either good stupid or a combination of both. He noticed a person's shadow against a rock a good distance behind them. He couldn't see the person and a normal person probably wouldn't have noticed the shadow. He nodded slightly to Chandra.

She gritted her teeth, "C'mon we're wasting time." She continued down the trail.

Jace stared after her before shaking his head and following. As they continued he stayed behind her even though her pace was agonizingly slow. If she wasn't an assassin she would have tumbled all the way down the mountain by now. His tail flicked irritably as she stopped to reorient herself again. He took the opportunity to look around.

"Forget this," Chandra hissed. Her wings appeared at her back. She grabbed Jace's wrist and leaped into the air.

"God dammit!" Jace hissed. He glared up at her, "A little warning would be nice next time you decide you'd rather fly than walk."

"I make no promises," Chandra shrugged. She looked down at him, "You're not as heavy as I expected you to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jace snapped.

She smirked, "Nothing." The headphones gave off a dull hum that was nearly headache inducing. She sighed. _I'm never wearing these things again. Once I finish figuring out everyone's problems with each other and themselves they are being hidden away somewhere in Echo's technology graveyard. She'll find something to do with them._ She studied the ground looking for any trace of Lylly.

Jace looked up at her, "It'd be nice if you could not fly over the cities. I'm getting tired of being stared at."

"Where do you think Lylly is most likely to go?" Chandra retorted, "He'll go somewhere where someone that's looking to hurt him will find it hard to locate him. The kid's not stupid."

Jace sighed, "Whatever." He was silent for a while, scanning the area below them. He really didn't like the feeling of flying. Of course he blamed it on Chandra's tendency to move suddenly, seeming to have forgotten he was even there. _Well good for her. When I get sick it'll land on the ground a long way away. _He looked down. They were flying over a forest and in a glade he spotted who they were looking for. Chandra seemed to have seen him at the same time and was losing altitude a little too fast for Jace's liking. "Hey! Slow down will you?"

Chandra smirked, "Why should I?" she dropped him.

Jace hissed but landed in a crouch, "I'm going to kill you."

"Like you would," Chandra shrugged. She darted up to Lylly, "What are you doing here?"

Lylly looked up. Just beyond him a young woman was lying unconscious on the ground. Her long black hair was pulled into a single ponytail. She was covered in scratches and bruises. He smiled warmly at them, "Sorry for disappearing like that but I felt something weird and came to check it out. Lilianna said it was fine if I went."

Chandra nodded, "Alright." she kneeled down next to the girl. Jace noticed that she had three relatively deep cuts over her left eye.

"Well, it looks like someone's not going to be able to see out of that eye," a cold laugh followed the words.

Chandra whirled around and as she did so, flames erupted from the area around her feet, "What do you want?"

"You," he shrugged and then smirked, "Dead."

Her eyes narrowed, "Good luck with that."

"I'd prefer to fight Phoenix if you don't mind," he insisted.

Chandra put her hands on her hips, "Phoenix doesn't want to play with you so you're going to have to deal with me."

Jace glanced at her, "Really?"

"That's too bad," he leaped forward. Chandra met him halfway. She caught his sword arm with a hand engulfed in flame.

Jace recognized Areu. His eyes narrowed. _This is bad. He's spent practically all of his life learning how to beat Phoenix. I know Chandra and Phoenix are the same person but they're don't seem to have the same advantages and disadvantages. _

Lylly's eyes widened, "Um..."

Jace realized that he probably would have recognized him also, though he wouldn't know as much about him. _Dammit. She's unconscious and that means that there's no way for her to go anywhere. If we knew how to summon Sun's Reprieve then it'd be simple but we don't so it isn't. It's never that simple._ He bit his lower lip thoughtfully. _If Chandra can hold him off long enough then-_

_Areu, don't kill her._ Jace's eyes widened. That voice was very familiar to him. _I want her captured. Alive. _Jace gritted his teeth. _I'm not sure he knows I heard. That could be helpful but then again I don't want to be able to hear him. _Jace was pulled out of his thoughts by a poke in his ribs. "Ow," he hissed.

"Sorry," Lylly apologized quickly, "She's waking up. We might be able to get her back to Sun's Reprieve."

Jace glanced at the woman. She was stirring. She got to her hands and knees and looked around in confusions. Jace nodded._This is pretty much the only thing I can come up with right now._ "Alright. You're job is to make sure those two," he motioned to where Chandra and Areu were fighting, "don't get to close."

Lylly nodded.

Ral glanced around, "Snowflake did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Kaechia looked at him. _I would think he's hearing things but with a telepath in the group you never know._

"It sounded like Cat Ears."

_I don't think I'll ever warm up to his stupid nicknames._ "What did it sound like Jace was saying?" Kaechia asked calmly.

"I'm not quite sure but it sounded like he was asking for help," Ral looked confused.

_Yes I'm asking for help you idiot!_

Kaechia smirked, "That's Jace alright. What do you need help with?"

_We found Lylly but Chandra's...having difficulties so I need one or both of you to come pick him up._

"Where are you?" Kaechia asked.

_Regatha. _

"We're on our way," Kaechia looked at Ral, "Let's go."

Ral nodded, "Alright."


	23. Chapter 24

A young woman carefully picked her way up a large hill. She stopped at the top and looked out at the rolling hills before her. Mountains smudged the horizon and the grass bent in a heavy wind. A large marble city was nestled among the hills. Sneaking into the city was a nearly impossible task. _Luckily I can bypass the city and continue through the hills. It'll take longer but that is fine._ Hills surrounded the city on all sides. Any intruder would be spotted nearly instantly and shot down a moment later by the many archers that paced the tall city walls.

"Almost there," she whispered calmly to herself. Half of a broken porcelain mask covered the right side of her face. Instead of being able to see her eye through the mask there was a magical red flame that flared where her eye would be. Golden lines created the image of a stylized sun over the eye of the mask and gold lined the outside edges. She held a large sword upright in the ground to her left. It's hilt was a carving of an angel split down the center. On the right side the angel, wing stretched out to it's full length, had a serene expression on her face. On the left side the angel's face was twisted in agony. Her left wing was pitted and folded around her body in a protective way. It appeared as though she was crying. The woman's golden armor reflected the light of the sun that set in front of her. The black that lined the armor she wore seemed to absorb that light, making her appear to be a silhouette no matter where the light hit her. Her long golden hair was pulled into a ponytail on the left side of her head. Her left eye was an icy cold dark blue, almost black.

Images flashed in the back of her mind. A redheaded young woman was barely holding her own in a fight with a man that was at least a year younger than her. Her orange eyes glinted with rage. She had multiple cuts on her body. The way they were placed made it seem as though her attacker was "decorating". In the shadows a young man with a hood covering much of his face watched the two battle. He looked torn between helping her and knowing that he had yet to think of a way to help her. Her attacker was not without injuries himself. The right side of his body was covered in horrible burns and he had a cut in his abdomen that was bleeding heavily.

The redhead block a sword blow that would have cut her head open. Her attacker pressed his weight against the sword. His face twisted into a mocking sneer. His mouth moved as though he was talking but she could not hear what he said. The redhead snapped back at him instantaneously. The man watching from the shadows chewed his lower lip nervously.

A baby dragon appeared out of smoke and mist beside her. His form changed to his true form, a human spirit, "Elspeth."

"Kaious," her eyes narrowed though she did not turn to look at him, "aren't you supposed to be looking after the others?" Her voice was cold and cutting.

He nodded, "I am." His jade green eyes were sympathetic but firm as he continued, "But I am just a spirit. I cannot aid them physically. That is something only you can do." His black hair was swept to the right and up out of his face. His eyes narrowed and his tone grew hard, "That is something you must do."

She turned to face him, "And why must I do that? I wouldn't have asked you to look after them if I had the time to do it myself."

Kaious stared at her, "You're really telling me that you don't have time to help your friends because you'd rather get revenge? Don't they mean anything to you?"

"Of course they mean something to me," Elspeth snarled, "and it's not just revenge I'm after."

Kaious took a deep calming breath, "It is just revenge. You're trying to justify abandoning them to yourself." He changed back into the baby dragon and disappeared.

Elspeth took a deep breath. The images in the back of her mind continued. The redhead eventually ran out of energy and her and her companion were knocked unconscious taken to an extra dimensional space. Within that space was a laboratory, the kind of laboratory that was used to create technology. It resembled an Izzet mages workroom except much more organized. Artifact creatures were everywhere, working on the different projects and doing the calculations that were required of them. Elspeth saw a conveyor belt with skeletons made of metal and wires instead of bones and ligaments. In the ribcage was what appeared to be a control panel. It had a number pad and what appeared to be a self destruct command.

Elspeth's eyes narrowed. She glared at the setting sun, "I'm not wasting any more time on you, Heliod. You'll get what you deserve even if it's not by my hand." She turned. As she did so, the sword she carried and the armor she wore glowed in a light brighter than the sun itself. When the light died the armor was gold with silver trimming. The sun was reflected blindingly off every part of the armor. The red flame over the mask turned gold. The gold lining of the mask brightened and the sun design sharpened, becoming more noticeable even behind the flame. The cracks in the mask faded and smoothed over until she wore a solid half-mask. The angel carving on the hilt of her sword had a look of calm fury on her face. Her wings curled around the wielder's hand protectively. She held a sword of her own in her hands the point of which was pointed toward her feet.

Elspeth left the world. Sneaking into an extra dimensional space was close to impossible but, as she was not technically human, it would be easier for her than for anyone else. _I don't have a plan._ The realization hit her suddenly. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. _I have to find the place first._ She continued her search dutifully and patiently. Finding an entrance to a extra dimensional space would definitely test her patience to it's limit but she was determined to find it at any and all costs.


	24. Chapter 25

"Lucy," Nicol Bolas spoke in the young telepath's mind.

She looked up. Her fox-like tail twitched in anticipation, "Yes?"

"Jace is here. As long as you keep him alive you may do as you wish."

Lucy grinned, "As long as he stays alive I can do what I want?"

"Yes."

She got to her feet and walked out the door. The two of them had been companions as children. However, when Jace escaped he had left her behind, creating a rift that only expanded as time went on and she never saw him again. _He's here. I get to pay him back for leaving me behind. I get to show him the hell I went through. _She hurried down into the dungeon and walked right up to the guard that stood in front of the door that led down to the lower levels, "Where's Jace?"

"He's in the fourth room on the left, three levels down," the guard informed her with a respectful nod.

Lucy smiled, "Thanks a million." She hurried past the guard and down the flights of stairs that would take her to the third level. She opened the door to the right of his. It took her to a room that was above his with a glass wall that allowed her to look down at him. She grinned and sat in a chair close to the glass, "Hello, Jace. What brings you back so soon?"

Jace looked up at her in shock, "Lucy?" His ears flattened instantly, "What do you want?"

"I just want answers," she smiled innocently, "Is that too much to ask?"

"Then let's trade. I answer one of your questions and you'll answer one of mine," Jace met her gaze with narrowed eyes.

"Alright," Lucy nodded, "I answered one of yours so you get to answer one of mine." She leaned forward excitedly, "What's it like? The outside world?"

"It's better than this place," Jace shrugged, "That's about all I can tell you. It's not easy to describe."

"Okay," she flicked the tip of her tail at him, "Your turn."

Jace met her gaze confidently, "Where's my friend?"

"I didn't know you had any friends," Lucy snickered, "I might be able to tell you if you tell me what they look like." She sat back in the chair and tapped her fingers on the armrest.

"She's a redhead," Jace shrugged, "She isn't that hard to miss."

"You replaced me?" Lucy hissed angrily

Jace hissed, "No. I haven't. She's annoying."

"You said she was your friend," Lucy smirked, "and yet you call her annoying."

"She calls me all sorts of names too," Jace snapped.

"Then how is she any different from say...Areu?" Lucy asked.

"Because she doesn't care if I call her something else in response," Jace sighed, "I don't expect you to understand."

"I think Areu brought in a redhead earlier. Around the same time you were brought in," Lucy shrugged indifferently, "I don't care what happens to her so I don't know where she is." She sneered, "My turn! Is the outside world all you thought it would be?"

Jace rolled his eyes, "Sure. I don't know. It's not all sunshine and rainbows but it's not all bad."

"Your turn."

Jace sighed, "Where exactly is this place?"

"Everywhere and nowhere," Lucy grinned, "It shouldn't take you that long to figure out."

Jace glared at her, "And extra dimensional space? But they're impossible to find unless you know where they are."

"Exactly why it's the perfect place," Lucy laughed, "You've really gotten dumber." Her eyes glowed, "Have you gotten any slower?"

Jace's eyes widened, "What?"

Lucy got to her feet and walked deeper into the room.

"Hey!" Jace got quickly to his feet, "Wait!"

Lucy smiled darkly, "Let's see if you've gotten any better at controlling your power or if you're just putting on a face to hide the chaos. Being entirely self-taught is dangerous you know."

"Lucy! Hold on!" Jace insisted.

She activated the elevator that every room had in it that would lead down to the mazes she had spent much of her younger years running. She had been terrified of them but now that she knew them and could run them easily the fear had all but evaporated into thin air. _Is he still afraid? Is he weaker than me now? Is the calm he puts on just a face?_ Lucy studied the control panel and retracted the lead from the walls of the maze. Jace had left before being taught how to run the maze with his magic. Lucy watched him run through the maze. He figured it out quickly and had definitely learned to control some of his magic. She doubted he could control all of it. She knew that someone had put a wall between him and the power that was provided with the "upgrade" that his more animalistic features revealed he had technically acquired.

Chandra opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was she was lying on a cold metal floor. She felt rage boil up within her as she remembered how badly she had been beaten. She then noticed that she was in a room of lead. She could not see a door or a window. _They got me in here somehow. I can get out._ She was free to move around the room but no further. There didn't even appear to be a guard anywhere nearby. She growled and sat cross-legged in a corner. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited. _I can still kick anybody's ass even without magic. _She looked around again before growling in frustration, "Come on!" _How long does it take for someone to come down here? Seriously._

Chandra clenched her teeth as time continued to flow by. She couldn't hear a thing except the occasional footsteps passing by the door and muted voices fading as they passed by the door. Chandra laid on her back and rolled onto her stomach. _Okay it looks like I have to entertain myself._ She cocked her head to the side, "Let's see." _Well I could spend this time trying to figure out how I'm supposed to help Gideon get through his problems. Jace was easy. Push him into isolating himself and then eavesdrop as he talks to himself. Gideon usually has his shit together! I didn't have to worry about him last time. _She laid her head on her arms and closed her eyes. _Of course beating the hell out of him would probably work the same way it works with Jace. I mean everyone needs some sense beat into them every now and then. Of course if it doesn't work then I can probably cross Gideon off the allies list. _She sighed, "I'm so bored." She could tell that she was in an extra dimensional space but otherwise she had no idea where she was.

"If we're in an extra dimensional space then being rescued is really close to impossible," Chandra glanced at the door, "but it's a lead building meaning I can't just go blowing everything up." She whined softly, "How bloody hard is it? Come on guys. I really don't like sitting her without anything to do." She lifted her head as the lights in her room flickered.

Lucy forced Jace to push against the blocks on his power until they broke. Then she pulled him out of the maze. She smirked and left the room. She walked into his room and kneeled down in front of him. Jace was unconscious and she could see the energy flowing off of him. She stood, "Like I said. Being entirely self taught is dangerous." She skipped out of the room and closed and locked the door behind her.

Jace opened his eyes, "My ass." He sat up slowly. The edges of his vision blurred but he didn't really care. _I have to find Chandra and get out of here._ He climbed slowly to his feet, "If this is the room I think it is then it has the panel that controls the electrical system of the building." _And all of these doors are sealed electrically. Except for one. That one has a seven layer puzzle lock. I'm betting that's the one that Chandra's in. She doesn't much care for puzzles and would get frustrated and quit quickly. She's probably waiting for someone to come in so she can get an easy way out. Unfortunately Areu isn't stupid. there's very few living guards down here to avoid that situation. _Jace looked around, carefully studying every wall of the room. _I'm glad Lucy's just as perceptive, or not as the case may be, as she used to be._ He looked down at his hands, "Unfortunately I don't have a very good handle on my power so this is definitely going to be interesting."


	25. Chapter 26

Chandra quickly realized that no one was going to enter the room she was stuck in. She then decided that she might as well rage to the extent that she wanted to since no one seemed to care how much racket she made. _It's not nearly as effective when there's nothing to blow up._ Chandra sighed. _Or no way of blowing anything up._ Her eyes widened, "That's it" _If I can get a message to Inferno or Flame somehow then I'll be out of here in no time!_

"You're temporary body has neared completion, Lord Bolas," an artifact creature informed him, bowing down in deep respect.

"Perfect," Bolas was more than tired of having to hop from one host to the next like a lowly parasite. He was an elder dragon, deserving of the utmost respect. _Unfortunately I lost the telepath to that redheaded problem. However I also learned how far she is willing to go to protect her "friends". _He glanced at the artifact creature, "How much longer until it's finished?

"A day at most," the artifact creature responded.

Bolas nodded. _Good. With the technology provided by a certain pawn, that conveniently enough infiltrated those bloody assassins, I will have a competent...or at least obedient and powerful army at my command. That army is more than fit to take on any planeswalkers that stand in my way._

"Sir," Areu cocked his head to the side, "If you don't mind my asking, why'd you suddenly change your mind on Crimson Phoenix's fate?"

Bolas glanced at his servant, "I do not expect you to understand my reasonings. My plans span centuries."

Areu nodded, "Of course."

Jace grabbed onto a light of a ceiling and pulled himself onto it while a patrol of uniformly armored robotic soldiers marched down the hallway where he had been. He sighed in relief as their footsteps faded as they rounded the corner. He dropped back to the ground and shot down the hallway. _This is a hell of a lot more nerveracking than I'd like but at least I know exactly where that particular room is. _The wall beside him exploded suddenly, showering him with dust. Jace shielded his eyes and hissed angrily.

"Cat Ears!" Jace recognized Ral by his voice and his anger changed to annoyance. "Did you have to blow the wall up in my face?" her snapped irritably.

Ral shrugged. Kaechia stood beside him and the baby dragon hovered between them, "We apologize for getting your way."

Jace resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew the ice mage was like that. She was coolly polite to everyone except Lilianna and Chandra. He was just in a bad mood and his patience was thin, "I'm busy."

"What is up with you?" Ral asked.

Jace glared at him, "Nothing."

"Jace you can't go running around like that," the dragon insisted.

Jace glanced at him, "Stop me then." He took off down the hallway.

"Jace!" the dragon shot after him.

Ral shrugged, "See ya later Cat Ears!" He turned and went the opposite direction down the hallway.

Jace finally found the door he was looking for. He had to solve all seven puzzles that locked the door within a set amount of time. If he couldn't he'd have to wait two minutes for it to reset with new puzzles. The different puzzles were decided randomly unfortunately.

Chandra growled. She heard explosions nearby and the building shook, "Come on! You guys can't go picking a fight without ME!"

"Jace! You can't keep going like this! You're power is literally flowing out of you."

"I don't care," Jace snapped, "I can go on for as long as I need to."

Chandra cocked her head to the side, "Jace! Get me out of here!"

"I'm working on it," Jace snapped.

"Well hurry it up!" she responded. She heard him curse under his breath, "What?"

"Templars, seven of them, headed this way. Probably to deal with Ral and Kaechia but they'll run into me first," he sounded as though he was talking more to himself than answering her question.

"What's a templar?"

"Shut it," Jace snarled.

"Answer my question!"

"I can't right now," Jace growled, "If you want to get out of here then you're going to have to stop interrupting me."

Chandra punched the door hard enough to dent her side of it, "You're answering my questions once we get out then."

"Fine," Jace agreed impatiently.

Chandra sat on the floor with her back to the door. She could hear heavy armored footsteps getting ever closer. _Hurry it up or your in deep trouble._

"Jace! You can't fight the Templars. You have to help Chandra get free."

"How do you expect me to do that when I'm getting attacked?" Jace growled and dodged yet another arrow. "Fine, two can play at that game," he summoned the bow he had basically stolen from Echo to his hands.

"You can't use mana! You're not in full control of your power!" the dragon's voice became shrill.

"All the worse for them then," Jace muttered coldly. He aimed the arrow and charged it with his own power.

"JACE!" The dragon shrieked.

The arrow hit it's target and the robotic soldier exploded in orange and blue flames. Jace finished the puzzle he was working. _Four more. Dammit, I have two minutes left._ The next one was finished within a few seconds. Jace had to pause to destroy another Templar. _Luckily they're the slowest ones. They hurt if you get hit but they're slow response speed makes them easy to take down._ He shot another arrow as a Templar came shambling around the corner. Suddenly he looked in the other direction, "Dammit!" More Templars were coming from that side. Smaller versions flew ahead of the Templars, closing the distance quickly. Jace jumped back as one of them dove down at him. _This is bad! I've never encountered one's like these before!_

Bolas watched the events unfold in mild curiosity. _I will remain in the background and study them instead of acting. I've already made my presence known a little too early but the telepath was also slipping from my grasp. I need to devise a way to study their different fighting styles without fighting them myself as well as revealing that I'm the one behind it. I...have the perfect plan. _He nodded.

"My Lord," an artifact creature approached him, "You're body is completed, but the lightning and ice mages are headed in this direction quickly."

Bolas, "Transport all of the copies and the means to make many many more into the Ravnican undercity."

"Of course," it bowed it's head and left.

Bolas entered his temporary body and left the space.


	26. Chapter 27

Chandra hissed in frustration and pounded on the door.

"I give up," Jace growled, "We're gonna do things your way, Chandra."

"My way?" Chandra repeated, "What do you mean my way?"

She heard Jace hiss in annoyed impatience, "I'm blowing it up."

Chandra raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"No," his voice was heavy with sarcasm.

"Hurry it up then," Chandra rolled her eyes. She saw an almost blindingly bright blue arrow tip appear in the exact center of the door. _Oh shit. This is gonna be a big boom. _She backflipped into the back of the room as the door exploded into dust and small shards of metal. The first thing she did when she got out was disarm the closest Templar. The mechanized soldiers were twice her size and their gigantic swords were larger than they were. Chandra wielded the sword with relative ease.

Jace looked at her, "You do _not_ get to play with that."

"Like you can tell me what to do," Chandra glared at him.

"It's bigger there you are. There's no way you can possibly be accurate with that thing," Jace snapped.

Chandra noticed that he seemed to generally be in a particularly bad mood, "Someone's in a bad mood."

"Really?" Jace raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. He grabbed her wrist and started dragging her away, "Now that you're out we can get out of here." He dodged around the Templars in front of them.

"Let me go!" Chandra hissed. She knocked a Templar aside with the sword in her free hand.

"I'm letting you keep your toy," Jace didn't look at her, "That's all. You aren't picking any unnecessary fights."

"They aren't unnecessary!" Chandra insisted.

Jace stopped moving and whirled around to face her. His eyes were blue flames and his voice was cold. "The plan Elspeth came up with is a distraction so the two of us can get out. The others will be behind us when we leave. If you mess up that plan some of them may very well die." His eyes narrowed, "And sorry but even if I have to knock you unconscious I'm _not_ going to let that happen."

"Even Gideon?"Chandra asked curiously.

Jace turned and continued walking without responding. He didn't let her go either, obviously not trusting her to stay away from the fighting on her own.

Chandra sighed. She could hear the slow and steady shambling footsteps of the Templars behind them. The two of them were faster but if Jace got lost and walked them into a corner than they'd be screwed. She could also hear Ral and Kaechia clearing them a route. She occasionally caught glimpses of the two of them fighting ahead of them but that was all she got. Frustration coursed through her veins. She was being rescued and that frustrated her more than anything else about her situation. She hated being rescued. She hated needing others' help for something as seemingly simple as getting out of trouble. Unfortunately, Jace's grip was surprisingly strong. She hissed as she failed to get out of his grip again. _This is so DAMN FRUSTRATING! I'm tired of being rescued and I'm really tired of getting into situations where I need rescuing. _

Kallist could feel waves of frustration from the pyromancer. The redhead wasn't a bad person and she didn't annoy him nearly as much as she annoyed Lilianna. Even then he didn't think either of them truly annoyed the other anymore as much as tradition demanded that the two call each other names. He knew it wouldn't take long for her to forget the frustration in favor of something else. Her constantly changing emotions never ceased to confuse him. He knew Jace had stopped trying to make sense of her a long time ago. Of course Jace also didn't have much choice other than to spend most of his time in her company. Kallist assumed it was because of the artifact on his wrist. It was a binding enchantment and he always seemed reluctant and unenthusiastic about accompanying her anywhere. He found it odd that he couldn't pick any up kind of emotion from Jace at all. The only thing he gave off was cold calm.

"Are they alright?" Lylly asked worriedly.

Kallist nodded, "They're on their way here." He was with Lylly and Gideon waiting to take down anything or anyone that followed Jace and Chandra out.

"Jace! THIS IS A BAD IDEA!" Kallist recognized the baby dragon's voice instantly. Panic and worry crashed on to him with the force of a tidal wave. He shook his head and scanned the area attentively. He saw Jace standing a long distance away. Kallist could feel the energy coming off him from where he was. The power spiked suddenly and the robotic monstrosities following the two of them tumbled over each other. They then promptly exploded.

"Oh so you get to pick a fight but I just have to follow you around like I'm on A LEASH?" Chandra hissed angrily.

Kallist swallowed nervously. She was angrier than he'd seen her in a while. Jace still gave off nothing but cool calm. He looked at her, "Welcome to my life. Enjoy your stay." His voice was thick with scathing sarcasm. _How can he give off nothing but calm and sound and look this pissed off?_ Kallist sighed, "There are more coming. It looks like it's our turn."

Gideon stood beside him, "Let's go then."

Jace looked in their direction and nodded. Kallist noticed that he held Chandra in a grip that she could not get out of. She pulled against him angrily, "Let me go! I'm in a better state to fight than you are! THIS ISN'T FAIR!"

Jace gave her a cold look, "Life isn't fair. Live it or live with it."

"What is your problem?" Chandra hissed, "You're in such a bad mood. I've never seen you do something so stupidly reckless as what you've been doing. You know you could poison yourself doing this."

Jace shrugged, "I'll keep going for as long as I have to..." He turned and dragged her away.

Kallist didn't hear the rest of what he said as a Templar tried getting past him to them. _How can he be so calm and yet be so not calm? It's something I'll have to look into later._ He ducked under the Templar's slow but precise swing.

"You're being stupid! No one can go on forever Jace!" Chandra snapped.

"You're wrong," Jace stated simply, "I can. I can because I've had to. I've done more in worse shape."

"Not forever," she glared at him, "Let me go!"

"No," Jace didn't look at her.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" Chandra hissed, "We're a hell of a long way away. I'm not stupid enough to go running back!"

Jace stopped. He was silent for a moment. When he turned to look at her his eyes burned with a mix of anger and fear. It was a fear of something she couldn't identify. He didn't fear combat, that much she had seen, "Are you really? With Gideon, Elspeth, Ral, Kaechia, Lilianna, Kallist, Orriyon and all the others back there? Are you really not going to go running back for them? I know you Chandra. You will go back if I let you."

Chandra's eyes narrowed angrily, "Fine. Maybe I was thinking on taking off but that doesn't change anything."

"It changes everything," Jace hissed, "Elspeth carefully laid out the plan. Someone will die if we mess with that plan even a little."

"And someone might die if we don't," Chandra rolled her eyes, "Death is a risk of fighting!"

Jace closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You don't get it," he said slowly.

"What do I not get then?" Chandra asked.

"Never mind," Jace turned and continued dragging her away.

"No. You can't just tell me never mind," Chandra insisted.

"Can't I?" Jace asked.

"No you can't," Chandra tried again to pull herself free.

"It doesn't matter," Jace suddenly let her go, "You can running back if you like." He didn't look at her and continued walking.

Chandra stopped and put her hands on her hips. Her eyes narrowed. _It looks as though something big has come up._ She sighed, "Unfortunately my handy headphones are missing. Oh well. Echo would have shut them down once she found out I didn't have them anymore." She decided to wait for the others. She knew Jace wouldn't wander too far.


	27. Chapter 28

"Jace," the baby dragon whispered.

Jace glanced at him, "What?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Jace looked around, "Damn." He glanced down at his wrist. _This stupid enchantment is in the way._ He sighed and sat with his back against a tree.

_"Jace!" Lucy kneeled down next to her friend worriedly. He was covered in wounds again. She looked him over carefully, "Are you alright?"_

_"I'm fine," Jace insisted. He noticed her fox-like tail twitch. He sighed, "I'm fine. Alright?"_

_"Okay," her tone was colored with disbelief but she sat back._

_Jace sat up and winced as pain shot up his left side._

_"What traps did they use this time?" Lucy asked hesitantly._

_Jace rolled his eyes, "The same ones as the last time. The only change the traps once I don't get hurt."_

_"I wish they'd just leave us alone," Lucy whined._

_"Good luck with that," Jace snapped._

_Lucy shrugged, "Are you still going to try to leave?"_

_"I don't know. After what happened last time I'm not sure about it," Jace shrugged._

_The door flew open and a large shadow fell into the doorway. Jace stared at the Templar standing over them. He felt cold fear settle in his stomach but pushed it away._

_"Fox, come for testing," it ordered in a monotone voice._

_Lucy was frozen in fear where she was. Jace got to his feet and glared at it, "If they want her so bad they shouldn't send a pile of scrap metal like you!"_

_"Move Cat." It moved to swat him aside. Jace ducked. He was thankful for the fact that the robots were slow. One hit from them though could stun him long enough for the faster Raptors to easily get a hold of him. _

_Jace refused to move, "I said this isn't going to work." The Templar stopped moving suddenly. Jace's eyes widened and he stepped back. A tall man with dark hair pulled back into a neat ponytail and dark eyes walked into the room, slipping around the Templar. He held out his hand to Lucy, "If you would please, Fox. It's important."_

_Lucy swallowed nervously. She didn't take his hand but got to her feet. She gave Jace a terrified glance before following._

_The man took the Templar with him and the door closed with a sound like nails on a chalkboard._

_Jace sighed and sank onto the floor, "I'm more afraid of the people here than the robots that are supposed to intimidate me." He knew he was more hurt than he had let Lucy believe but that didn't really matter. He crawled over to the corner of the room and pulled out a part of the wall. Curled up behind the wall was a baby dragon. It's silver scales sparkled even in the little amount of light Jace had. It lifted it's head and it's eyes gleamed in delightful welcome at him, "Jace!" It's eyes widened instantly, "You're hurt."_

_"I can handle it," Jace shrugged indifferently. Pain was something he was more than used to feeling. _

_"Doesn't it hurt though?"_

_"It stings a little," Jace shrugged._

_"Who are you talking to Cat?"_

_Jace cringed and quickly shoved the wall back into place. He watched the door open with a defiant gleam in his eyes, "Myself. When one doesn't have company they tend to do that." He didn't flinch as the metal plated back of the person's hand hit his face. It stung but he ignored it._

_"Don't smart mouth me. If you continue to forget your place your project will be terminated."_

_Jace swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. He lowered his gaze. "I wouldn't dare," he whispered submissively. _

_"Good Kitty," he stiffened as she petted him. She walked away and the door closed. Jace studied the ground, "To have my project terminated means being killed. It's what happened to Alexis." _

_Jace and Lucy had been raised here. They didn't technically have names but Alexis had given Lucy her name while Jace had been gone. He had managed to escape when he was younger and was gone for three years. He had created his own name in that time. He shuddered as the taste of blood rose in the back of his throat, not for the first time. Lucy was the only other one that knew about the baby dragon he had found while he had been gone. He couldn't think of a name for the dragon that sounded any good so he had yet to have a name. For now Jace just called him "Dragon" but he planned on changing it once he came up with something better. Alexis had been like them. Her animal features had resembled that of a bear. Jace hadn't actually ever seen a bear but according to Alexis that's what it looked like. She had drawn a bear for him Lucy and Caidence. Caidence's project had also been terminated because he hadn't been performing well enough for their liking. _

_Jace sat bolt upright, "What if they terminate Lucy?" He started tapping the floor nervously. He knew there was nothing he could do if they did. She was the only one left that he knew. There were a couple of older ones but they were more than a little insane. One girl was strapped to a bed unless she was being tested and then she was put in a special outfit to keep her from hurting herself. She had one black eye and one blood red eye. There were twins that were just as crazy. Those two just hid the fact that they hurt themselves from the people. There was the kid next door to Jace and Lucy who kept mumbling about some monster creeping into people's minds and controlling them. Jace had tried to talk to him and hadn't been able to make sense of his cryptic and honestly terrifying warnings. He had managed to convince himself the kid was just nuts but thinking about what he had said still sent chills down Jace's spine. 'It's already there. You don't even know of the creature's influence.' Jace shook his head and thought about something else, "The kid was nuts. He was crazy. That's all there is to it." _

_The door opened and Lucy was dropped onto the floor carelessly by a Templar. Two Raptors stood on either side of the giant. Their lithe bodies were perfectly suited for chasing after anyone that tried to get away. They had the ability to augment their already inhuman speed. Getting past them took skill and a lot of luck. Jace hissed at them as the door closed. He knew better than to try to get past them before running a maze._

_"So Cat's conscious?" One of the Raptors asked. He shrugged and the door closed._

_Jace kneeled down beside his foxtailed friend. She was unconscious and about as injured as he was. He heard voices speaking outside the door in low tones. His cat-like ears pricked and his eyes narrowed. He moved closer to the door silently. _

_"We should terminate the fox's program. It has no magical ability whatsoever."_

_"Wait," another voice purred, "we have seen it's potential. Just because it has not caught as quickly as the Cat does not mean that it is not on his level. We'll do more augmentation on both of them and see which one takes best to it."_

_"Fine."_

_Jace hissed through gritted teeth, "Dammit. Why do I still hesitate?" _

Jace opened his eyes and looked around. He saw the library of Sun's Reprieve. His head ached miserably. He sighed, "What happened?"

"You are an idiot!" the baby dragon snapped, "You could have died! It was only because of Lucy that you didn't!"

"Lucy? I thought she wanted to kill me," Jace sighed. _Why has my life been so damn screwed up? Why take some harmless kid and try to turn him into some kind of monster? It doesn't make any sense._

"She did," the dragon landed on Jace's head, "but something changed her mind. She sacrificed the power that she had to help you. She also revealed that she was basically your clone."

"Clone?" Jace asked in surprise.

"Apparently they cloned you when you were younger because they weren't sure you'd be cooperative," the dragon explained.

"But then she ended up being uncooperative as well," Jace sighed. _Why was she a clone? Why'd they let me meet her if they created her so they'd have two of me in case I got pissed off and ditched them? There are so many unanswered questions that I have and nobodies willing or able to answer them. Of course when has that stopped me?_ He glanced at his wrist, "Oh. That's when that started getting in my way." He looked at the baby dragon suddenly, "You still don't have a name."

The dragon looked shocked, "I need a name? Is it necessary?"

"Yep," Jace got to his feet and walked over to one of the bookshelves. He found the book he was looking for and opened it to a random page, "It looks like your name is..."

"Wait you're deciding it randomly?" the dragon squeaked.

Jace shrugged, "I was going to come up with one myself but I can't come up with a good one so I'll just give you one of these names."

"I'd be fine with whatever you decided to call me," the dragon said slowly, "but a name is something that comes from a person's heart. I don't think anyone would be satisfied with a name chosen at random. Choose something that you like."

Jace paused, "Then what do you want to be called? I chose my own name."

The dragon paused, "I don't know. They all sound stupid."

Jace looked at him flatly, "Really?"

"Fine, fine. How about Kaious?" the dragon nodded, "Yeah."

"Okay," Jace shrugged and put the book back on the bookshelf, "Your name's Kaious then."


	28. Chapter 29

Chandra sighed and threw the Ace of Hearts playing card at Gideon. Gideon ignored it like he had ignored the Seven of Clubs, and all of the spades cards. She looked at the next one. It was the King of Diamonds. She smirked, "Hey Lilianna."

"What, Pyromaniac?" Lilianna snapped.

"Do you know what the Queen of Diamonds is?" Chandra asked.

"Breathtakingly beautiful?" Lilianna sneered, "Thanks so much, Twit."

"No," Chandra shot her a triumphant look, "She is infuriatingly self-centered and slow on the uptake." She chuckled softly to herself, "Kind of like someone else I know."

"Oh really?" Lilianna got to her feet and walked towards her in an almost threatening way.

Kallist shook his head and pretended to be very interested in the map Gideon was making him stare at. He ignored the half hearted feelings of anger and the very sincere annoyance rolling towards him from the two of them.

Chandra threw the King of Diamonds at Gideon. He ignored it.

"I see your aim hasn't gotten any better from the last time I saw you try to hit something right under your nose," Lilianna taunted.

"And since when did you fight at all?" Chandra shot back. She smirked, "I'm feared all across the multiverse."

"Correction," Lilianna lifted her pointer finger in front of her face, "Your alter ego is feared all across the multiverse."

"And since was your name known, alter ego or otherwise?" Chandra shot back. She looked at the next card. It was the Ace of Clubs. She snickered and turned to the ice mage, "Hey Kaechia?"

"Yes?" Kaechia asked politely.

"Do we have any clubs?"

"Why?" Kaechia asked.

Chandra paused "Um..."

"Are you going to hit someone with a club?" Lilianna asked knowingly.

"It's the Ace of Clubs," Chandra shrugged, "I need a club. A real club. And yes I'm going to hit _something _with a club. I never said I was going hit someone."

Kaechia chook her head, "I don't think so. Besides even if you hit something it's still rude. This stuff belongs to someone you know."

Chandra sighed, "Fine." She sat back down in disappointment and put the card on the bottom of the stack. The next card was the Queen of Diamonds. She started laughing and shoved it in Lilianna's face. "There you go, Beautiful," she said mockingly.

"Shithead," Lilianna hissed.

Chandra laughed, "Yeah, yeah." The next card was Eight of Hearts. She threw it at Gideon.

Gideon sighed, "Chandra?"

"Yes?" Chandra asked.

"Stop throwing those at me please. I'm trying to focus on something," Gideon asked.

"Then who am I supposed to throw cards at now?" Chandra flopped back in her chair in exasperation.

"Throw them at Jace," Gideon shrugged, "I don't know."

Chandra glanced at where Jace was sitting in the corner, "He's too far away."

"You've practically just admitted that your aim is terrible," Lilianna laughed, "Looks like you can't do everything can you?" She snickered, "Phoenix." Her tone held mock respect and sarcastic reverence.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "It's not my fault rumors exaggerate. I never claimed to be able to do everything." She sighed and sat forward. _Let's see if I can do this. I doubt it but it's worth a shot._ She looked at the next card. It was the Jack of Hearts. Chandra almost burst out laughing, "Wow."

"What?" Lilianna looked at the card over her shoulder, "And you're going to throw that at him?"

"Oh don't bug me with symbolism Zombie-Lover," Chandra rolled her eyes, "Gideon's had all of the spades cards amongst others thrown at him."

"And yet you bugged me about the Queen of Diamonds?" Lilianna grinned, "You know what you are?"

"What?"

"The Queen of Hearts. Heartless, cruel and spoiled to the core," Lilianna smiled overly sweetly.

"Good to know," Chandra nodded, "but I'm not heartless and I'm definitely not spoiled."

"But you don't deny that you're cruel," Lilianna pointed out.

"I can be," Chandra shrugged, "I'm not heartless though."

"Oh yes you are," Lilianna nodded. "How many people have you killed?"

"How many have you brought back from the grave for your own devices?" Chandra retaliated. She threw the card.

Jace caught it and threw it back to her without looking up from his book.

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "Jerk."

"You're hopeless," Lilianna shook her head in mock disappointment that quickly turned to cold sarcasm, "I knew it from the beginning."

"You two are so rude to each other,"Kaechia muttered under her breath. No matter how rude they were she was pretty sure that they were actually fond of each other somewhere in their hearts. They probably would've killed each other by now if they weren't. She understood that this was their way of being nice and making up for whatever wrongs they'd done to each other in the past. _Some friendships are just like this. Kind of like those two._ She glanced at where Jace and Ral were exchanging hard looks. _I still swear that these boys are nothing more than that. Boys._ She smiled. _But I guess they aren't so bad. Not as bad as they were at first. _She preferred Kallist to the others. He was quiet and was the only one of the boys that wasn't constantly arguing with someone other than Lylly. Lylly however just watched everything go down. She glanced at Elspeth. Elspeth was pretty levelheaded. Kaechia suddenly understood why Chandra had devoted so much of her time to trying to find her. She was definitely the real leader of this group. Even Ral did what Elspeth told him the first time she told him without complaint.

Kaechia noticed Chandra watching Gideon with a weird look in her eyes. It was a contemplative look. She remembered seeing it on her face before in regards to Jace. Chandra had ended up being right about Jace. Her instincts about people were great. It seemed that she knew who to trust despite their flaws the moment she met them. She also noticed the look was darker. It was certain. With Jace it had seemed like she knew what she was doing from the start. She looked uncertain on how to handle Gideon. Kaechia glanced at Gideon. If Chandra thought something about him was off she was going to take her word for it unless proven wrong. Kaechia noticed that something was off about Gideon. He seemed much more easily irritated now that Jace didn't spend all his time in the library. He often sent him running errands and visibly relaxed when he left the room. Kaechia sighed. _I don't know how to help with that but it appears that Jace is the biggest problem Gideon has. I'm sure Chandra's noticed that already but then there's not really much...never mind. _

"Hey Lylly?" Lylly looked up at her. He was sitting on the roof staring at the sky like he did every afternoon, "Hi!"

"Have you noticed anything odd about anyone?" Kaechia sat down next to him.

"Well, Elspeth's not actually alive," Lylly said.

Kaechia looked at him in surprise.

"She died and returned," Lylly shrugged, "Other than that I don't know what's up with her. She's kind of creepy."

"Okay, anything else?"

"Jace has been spending more time with us and it seems that his baby dragon friend has a name," Lylly added, "And Gideon seems to be seriously perturbed by that fact."

"The fact that Jace is spending more time with us instead of by himself?"

Lylly nodded, "I've heard him muttering under his breath about how we don't need Jace at all. And I've also heard him talking to Elspeth about that too."

Kaechia nodded, "Anything else?"

"Well, Orriyon's sister is a shapeshifter. She isn't limited to her wolf form. And there's something weird about Orriyon. It's like she's...not...I don't know."

Kaechia shrugged. Orriyon could see the future. Her not being fully present was not unexpected.

"I can sense planeswalkers," Lylly said suddenly, "The reason I ran away was because I sensed Vadanya's spark ignite. I didn't mean to get Lilianna and Kallist in trouble."

"It's fine," Kaechia shook her head, "You didn't get anyone in trouble."

"But Jace and Chandra got captured because they came looking for me," Lylly sighed and put his head on his knees.

"Don't worry about it. Nothing happened to them so it's fine," Kaechia nodded and got to her feet, "I'm going to go talk to the others. I've been missing out on things lately and I like to stay well informed." She turned away and muttered to herself, "Though I'm going to avoid talking to the tinkerer.


	29. Chapter 30

Kaechia found Orriyon sitting in her room staring out the window. The blond looked sad about something. Kaechia cocked her head to the side, "Is something wrong, Orriyon?"

"No," Orriyon shook her head, "I knew you'd come talk to me. There's something I have to tell you." Orriyon flicked her wrist and the door shut behind Kaechia. She took a deep breath, "I know how you're going to die."

Kaechia stared at her, "What? I'm sorry. You know how I'm going to die?"

Orriyon nodded. Her eyes glowed white, "On a world with poison mana the ice mage falls in defense of family. Should she choose otherwise a fate worse than death befalls her companions."

"If I don't die than they will face a fate worse than death?" Kaechia asked. She was horrified. She didn't want any of them to be put through something that awful not even the supremely annoying lightning mage and the stuck up law mage.

"Yes," Orriyon lowered her gaze sadly. _That's two gone. I know how I'll leave this loop. One final loop to end the uncountable wars and one final goodbye before the long sleep. _She turned back to the window uneasily, "One final goodbye before the long sleep." _One final goodbye before the long sleep. I feel like that has a deeper meaning. Once this loop comes to a close I will fade away._ She smiled at Kaechia, "That's all."

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about something as well," Kaechia shook off the sinking feeling in her stomach. "Is something wrong with Gideon?"

Orriyon nodded, "Gideon is the knight shrouded in righteous shadows."

Kaechia cocked her head to the side, "I'm not sure I understand."

Orriyon laughed, "I'm not surprised. It's never really clear. I have very hazy images of a knight shrouded in righteous shadows. He's fighting with what looks like an inner demon that is a traumatic past incarnate. The demon uses a catlike façade. A false face in the form of a pure black cat with sparkling hateful blue eyes."

"Gideon sees his inner demon every time he looks at Jace," Kaechia realized.

Orriyon paused, "I think so but I'm not sure."

Kaechia nodded.

Chandra sighed. She was sitting in a large room where the walls and ceiling were windows. The evening sunlight filtered in through the windows, bathing the room in warm golden and pink light. _I really don't know how to deal with Gideon. Without those handy headphones Echo gave me I don't know what's going on. I doubt Jace'll be of any help. Speaking of Jace._ "There's still something I have to do," Chandra got to her feet and hurried to the library. He was always in the library around this time of day. She noticed the magical seal on the door and growled, "Jace. It's me. Let me in. I have to talk to you."

"Why?" Jace asked. He sounded like he was in a bad mood. His tone was dark and angry.

"I need to talk to you!" Chandra hissed.

"About what?"

Chandra bit her tongue, "Stuff and things."

"Not helpful."

"Let me in," Chandra snarled angrily.

"Fine," Jace removed the seal from the door.

Chandra stalked into the library and closed the doors behind her, "So. You're in a bad mood. What happened?"

"Gideon," Jace shrugged.

"Gideon?" Chandra asked. She cocked her head to the side.

"Yep," Jace shrugged.

"What'd he do?" Chandra asked.

"He's sent me and only me on errands for four days now," Jace shrugged, "and it's because he can't stand me."

"Well," Chandra walked up to him and didn't continue her sentence until she reached him. She held out her hand, "Give me your wrist."

"Which one?" Jace asked dully.

Chandra grabbed his left arm and ran her finger along the band on her wrist. It popped and felled onto the table, "You can do what you like now."

Jace stared at her in wide eyed shock. He glanced from her face to the silver binding artifact on the table and back again, "You're serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Chandra shrugged. She grabbed it and started to walk away. She paused in front of the library doors, "What you do and where you go is up to you know. Just be sure you can live with the choices you make."

Jace blinked in shock, like he still couldn't believe it.

Chandra left the library and closed the doors behind her.

"You're just going to let him go?" Gideon had obviously heard.

Chandra nodded, "There's no point in making him stay in a place he doesn't want to be in."

"Do you have any idea-"

"Gideon," Chandra put her hands on her hips, "I have very little patience for your unrealistic hatred. I've had about enough of your judgement. Jace's leaving. He's gone. You don't have to deal with him anymore." _Now with Jace gone, because he will leave, I can figure out if Gideon's problem is with just Jace or just everybody and everything._ She twirled the binding bracelet around her finger as she walked away.

"Cat Ears is leaving?" Ral asked.

_God does everybody freaking eavesdrop around here?_ "Don't worry," Chandra smirked confidently, "He'll be back before long." She walked away, back to the room with windows. Lilianna was sitting at the single table in the room. Chandra looked at her, "What do you want Lich-face?"

"That's cold coming from a redheaded pyro freak," Lilianna snapped. She smirked, "Besides it's not what I want. It's more like me offering help you obviously need."

"Ha, no," Chandra shook her head quickly, "I don't need your help."

"Yes you do," Lilianna rose to her feet and walked towards her. The necromancer was taller than her by a few inches.

"If your so sure then do I need your help with?" Chandra snapped.

"Everything," Lilianna shrugged, "but that's beside the point." She smirked, "You really need help in dealing with Gideon."

"Hell no," Chandra shook her head.

"You don't even know what his problem is," Lilianna ran her hand along the pyromancer's chin, pulling away when Chandra attempted to bite her.

"I can figure it out on my own."

"Not before it destroys him," Lilianna stated simply, "I can get him to tell me his problems, because you don't have the heart to truly manipulate someone, and then tell thos problems to you. Then I can get him to leave the group, you can beat sense into him and then everything will work out. Or am I wrong?"

"You aren't wrong," Chandra hissed through gritted teeth._ And I'll admit it's not a bad plan but I don't need your help. I definitely don't want your help._

Lilianna slid past her, "Great, thanks you little brat. I'll go talk to Gideon now."

"Wait!" Chandra shot down the stairs, into the main room after her. She hovered in the doorway as Lilianna began to speak with Gideon. _Dammit. Looks like I've got her "help" whether I want it or not._ She gritted her teeth and went back up the stairs, "Dammit. Dammit. Dammit." _Alright Lili. You've got my trut for now but don't screw this up._ She slid up to the roof to find Kaechia sitting staring at the sunset. Chandra cocked her head to the side, "Kaechia?"

"Yes?" Kaechia asked.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," Kaechia shook her head. _It's best not to tell them. I don't want Chandra losing her mind. _She looked up at the sky, "How's Jace?"

"I let him go but he'll be back before long," Chandra said.

"You seem sure of it."

"Sure," Chandra nodded, "He has a fear of loss. I gave him the time to connect to us and now that those are there he'll come back when we need him. Then he'll stick around of his own free will."

"You manipulated him," Kaechia nodded. Chandra knew Kaechia had a problem with her more indirect methods of getting people to do what she wanted. Of course the ice mage had an even larger problem with Lilianna's methods. Chandra couldn't really deny that they worked she just wasn't going to go that far because just the thought of manipulating someone like that made her sick to her stomach. _'You don't have the heart to truly manipulate someone.' Hell yeah I don't. I have a conscience. I can't believe I'm letting her manipulate Gideon into trusting her. I'll have to cover her ass from his over bearing definitions of right and wrong. Dammit. Well I'll only do that if this works out. I'll keep an eye on her because I'm not sure I trust her yet. _


	30. Chapter 31

Jace sighed and stared at the ceiling. The Ravnican library was quiet. He looked at the baby dragon that was curled up on the table a little way away. He hadn't expected freedom to be so lonely or boring. He kept returning to the last thing Chandra had said to him. _'Just be sure you can live with the choices you make'. That's what she said but does that mean she thinks something bad is going to happen? What if something bad does happen when I'm not there? They can take care of themselves right?_ Jace shook his head, "They'll be fine. They can take care of themselves no matter what happens. Besides, there's always _Phoenix_. She can kick ass." _Besides, it's not like they need my help anyway. I just sit in the library all day anyway. I don't anything for them. _

The dragon lifted it's head and looked at him, "Jace what's wrong? I thought you wanted to read the books here."

"I already have," Jace stood up, "So we're going to go on a tour of the multiverse."

"I thought you already got a tour," Kaious stifled a laugh, "with Chandra."

"That does not count," Jace shook his head. He laughed, "She did not give me a tour. She dragged me halfway across the multiverse only to arbitrarily change her mind and turn around."

Kaious shook his head, "I wonder what would happen if I were to tell her that."

"No! Don't do that," Jace snapped.

"I won't," he shook his head. He lifted off into the air and landed on Jace's head and shoulders.

Jace rolled his eyes, "Don't eat my ears okay?"

"I never have," Kaious squeaked.

"You've clawed them plenty of times," Jace muttered, "which counts." He left Ravnica. He looked around, "I don't get it."

"What do you not get?" Kaious asked.

"Lylly. He should be like me but he's...nothing like me. I'm not even sure he can fight," Jace shrugged.

"Well maybe they never taught him to fight," Kaious suggested.

Jace shook his head, "He's sixteen."

"So?"

"Fighting is one of the first things he should've been taught.

"Maybe they changed it?"

"No," Jace shook his head, "They didn't."

"Okay, then maybe he just doesn't like fighting and therefore we've never seen it."

"Maybe," Jace shrugged. _I don't like fighting. _

"Maybe not but you know that you know that you have to in order to protect your friends," Kaious pointed out.

"You," Jace corrected.

"Speaking of which," Kaious continued as though Jace hadn't spoken, "when are we going back. That castle was cozy."

"We're not going back," Jace said, not for the first time. Whenever he had brought up anything related to the castle or the planeswalkers in it the baby dragon asked that question. Every time he gave the same answer. Jace had no intention of going back. He knew they could take care of themselves.

For days he just wandered the multiverse without a real purpose. He just went somewhere for the sake of saying he had. That was until he met a certain couple of people.

"Hey!" A pink haired young man with blue eyes walked up to him, "What's up?"

Jace stared at him. _Pink hair? That's not something you see everyday._ "Um..."

"Jarvis, don't just go wandering off like that! We're supposed to be lying low," a black haired man, around the same age, with purple eyes stalked up behind him. He froze when he saw Jace, "Cat ears? That's not something you see everyday."

Jace bit his lip and lowered his gaze, "Are you just going to comment on my appearance or is there something else you want?"

"Not everyone that talks to you wants something from you," Jarvis shrugged.

"Well sorry," Jace muttered sarcastically, "But I don't really care. If there's nothing you want then I'll be going now." He slid quickly past the two of them and started walking away.

"That was harsh," Jarvis commented. He smirked, "You wouldn't happen to know someone named Chandra would you?"

Jace looked at the pinkette over his shoulder, "Why do you care?"

"She's my sister," Jarvis shrugged, "and the only other person I know that has that kind of scathingly sarcastic attitude."

"Sorry," Jace muttered. He walked away.

"Oh c'mon!" Jarvis followed him, "Where is she?"

"I don't know," Jace shrugged.

Jordyn rolled his eyes and followed Jarvis.

"I want to talk to her and I'm pretty sure you know her."

"Jarvis. Maybe we should just leave him alone?" Jordyn suggested dryly.

"If you know he won't listen then why do you suggest it?" Jace snapped.

"That was cold," Jarvis sighed, "Do you really want to be left alone?"

"Yes."

"But you look lonely," Jarvis pointed out.

Kaious looked at Jace. "You kind of do," the dragon whispered low enough they couldn't hear.

Jace rolled his eyes at the dragon and turned to look at Jarvis, "That doesn't matter. I'm asking you to leave me alone so can you do it now."

"You haven't asked yet."

Jace gritted his teeth, "Yep. You two are definitely siblings. She didn't leave me alone either."

"So you do know her. Do you know where she is?"

"No!" Jace snapped.

"Jarvis," Jordyn said.

"Oh fine," Jarvis gave Jace a light punch in the arm and winked at him. He turned and followed Jordyn away. He got a small distance before turning back to Jace, "Nice ears. I'm pretty sure you're the only person I've met that could rock something like that." He turned and followed Jordyn out of Jace's sight.

Jace was surprised to know that Jarvis met what he said about his ears. He hadn't been mocking him in any way with the comment. Jace rolled his eyes turned and walked the other direction, "I'm not lonely by the way."

"You look the part."

"I'm still not," Jace muttered.

"No. We were told to destroy the castle."

_Ral?_ Jace stopped once what he had said registered in his mind. _Wait. What's going on?_ He slid through the trees carefully and stopped in shock once he saw what was talking. It looked like Ral. It sounded like Ral. It even acted like Ral. It wasn't Ral. It was a robot. Jace cocked his head to the side. _And there's three...no four of them._ He listened intently to what they were saying.

"We were not told to destroy the castle. We were told to destroy the planeswalkers in it."

"We were not!"

"Yes we were!"

"Would you idiots stop it?"

Jace looked at the new speaker and almost started laughing. _That's not exactly what I look like. This is so weird. They're robot copies of us. _Suddenly his eyes widened. _Do they have our abilities?_ He peeked into one of the Ral's robotic minds. It was definitely different than looking into a truly living mind. It wasn't nearly as twisting and winding. The thoughts were very geometric and emotionless. And every single copy ever created had their exact abilities. There were a lot of copies. Multiple armies worth.

"Would you get out of my head Beleren."

Jace froze.

"I'm not in your head."

Jace turned and darted away. _They even have our ability to planeswalk. They know everything that we do. They're exact copies of us. _He glanced at Kaious worriedly, "We have an objective now."

"What are we doing?" Kaious asked.

"We're...going to tell Chandra," Jace shrugged.

"Alright," Kaious nodded.

Jace quickly tracked down the pyromancer. She was actually not on the world where the castle was which worried Jace. He stopped dead when he heard the sounds of battle when he approached her general location. He slid around and approached her from a different angle. What he saw completely shocked him.

Gideon knocked Chandra back with his shield, "Just let it go Chandra! I'm not going back. There's not point when your fight doesn't line up with mine. We'll just get in each other's way."

"Your being an idiot!" Chandra snapped harshly.

Jace's eyes widened. Both of them looked like they'd been fighting each other for a while. Jace sat back, "Maybe we'll just...wait until this is over. Then we'll talk to her."

"If she wins," Kaious reminded him.

"She'll win," Jace insisted, "She kicked my ass."

"You remember that?" Kaious looked at him, "I thought you said you hadn't."

Jace looked away and didn't respond.

"Oh," The dragon nodded, "Alright."

Jace turned his attention back to Chandra and Gideon. The first thing he did was make sure that they weren't robots. Neither of them were which meant that, according to Chandra, Gideon was being an idiot. In Gideon's mind Jace heard the muted whispers of an unfamiliar voice. The presence however was very familiar to him. His eyes widened. _So the dragon can't control Gideon but can influence him? That's why Gideon's been a jerk all this time when Chandra continually insisted that Gideon was alright. _He also saw images of Lilianna confirming everything Gideon already thought and encouraging him to leave. Jace cocked his head to the side. He looked into Chandra's head and saw her walking through a forest and then into some plains on Zendikar, talking to Lilianna about Gideon. Jace nodded. _That makes sense. Lilianna was helping Chandra out. Wait a second. When did that happen? Last I knew all they did was pick on each other. _Jace sighed, "I've missed so much."

"Told you, you were lonely," Kaious muttered.

"Shut up," Jace rolled his eyes. He turned his attention back to the fight between Gideon and Chandra. It seemed pretty evenly matched which worried him. _Maybe she won't win. Why is she holding back if she's just beating sense into him? It's not like she's going to kill him._ Jace cocked his head to the side, "Something's wrong."

"What?"

"She's holding back and not even she knows why," Jace whispered.

"Then she's going to lose!" Kaious squealed.

Jace pressed himself against the ground as Gideon looked around. He silently and slowly cast an invisibility spell. Kaious landed beside him. "Oops," he whispered.

"If he kills us I'm killing you," Jace warned. He was only half serious but Gideon definitely wasn't the type to have a sense of humor. He would most likely kill them if he knew they were there. Jace didn't fancy that.


	31. Chapter 32

Phoenix flipped and skidded backwards. She fell to one knee as exhaustion swept over her. _Dammit. I'm losing. This is bad._ She slammed her fist into the ground, "For fuck's sake Gideon. If you think something's wrong tell me!"

Gideon stood in front of her. His whip was splayed around him on the ground. He made no move to attack her but his gaze was cold, "I did and you didn't listen to me."

Phoenix hissed through gritted teeth and got to her feet, "Seriously? I'm sorry if it took me a while!"

"I told you we didn't need the telepath but you insisted and all he's done is bring trouble," Gideon reminded her fiercely.

Phoenix rolled her eyes, "Planeswalking telepath. Sound rare to you? Of course he's gonna bring trouble."

"You practically killed him. That doesn't sound to me like you value him so why is he there?" Gideon snarled.

"Why aren't you?" Phoenix retaliated harshly, "You decided a band of fanatics followed a more righteous cause than saving the multiverse?" _Again. _She glared at him, "In case you hadn't noticed I'm not the only one that's screwed up." _I...just picked a fight. Well more like continued a fight I was _losing_. Antagonizing seems to be how this is going to work out so we'll just roll with it. And hopefully not die in the process. _Her gaze remained hard.

"At least my hands will be clean of any unnecessary death and pain," Gideon shrugged.

"You selfish bastard!" Phoenix hissed, "You're just going to ignore what's going on around you so you don't have to deal with off consequences when you die?!"

"No!" Gideon's eyes flashed with uncharacteristic rage, "I'll be cleaning up after your mistakes."

"You're just pissed off that I do what it takes to get the job done! Not everything can be done without bloodshed and pain!" Phoenix felt flames of rage dance along her skin.

"What you are trying to accomplish can be done without the suffering you've caused, Chandra!" Gideon growled, "And I will not be the cause of so many others' suffering!"

Phoenix got to her feet. "Then don't make this about me," she whispered darkly. Her eyes hardened to icy cold calm. The flames along her skin died just as fast as they had appeared. She met his gaze evenly, "Make it about them. Do what it takes for them!"

Gideon took a shocked step back. He had never seen her anger turn cold and he suddenly wished he hadn't. In an explosion of golden flames Phoenix shot forward. Gideon couldn't keep up with her lightning like movements. He heard her voice all around him and could feel her blade cutting into his skin. Every few hits she named off one of their companions. She excluded herself and Jace from the list. Once she got through the whole list she stopped, skidding to a halt a few feet from Gideon. Gideon fell to one knee. Phoenix turned and looked at him, "Maybe it seems like you don't belong. And maybe you're right about everything. Even so, Gideon, everyone has their secrets. I'm not one to pry into those secrets unless they're destroying someone I care about from the inside out. You should try looking deeper into people than what they reveal on the surface. I was never really in charge. Elspeth's the real leader here. I was just doing what I could in her absence." She turned away, "Think about the choice you've made. If you truly want to leave the group and you aren't running away then that's your choice." Phoenix smirked at him over her shoulder, "Oh and if you do return, Lilianna's fine. The zombie-lover volunteered to help me out so don't go apeshit about it." She disappeared and left Gideon to think.

"Beautiful, you look like you've been through hell and back!" Ral's eyes widened when she returned.

Lilianna put her hands on her hips, "Looks like the Great Crimson Phoenix isn't invincible after all."

"Shut up, Demon-Hearted Damsel," Phoenix hissed, "I never claimed to be invincible. I'll just do what it takes to get the job done." She looked flatly at Ral, "And thanks ever so much for noticing." She stalked past Lilianna, pausing to glare at her as she passed.

"You can't call me a damsel just because I don't get in other people's faces right off the top," Lilianna shrugged indifferently.

"I'm taking a nap," Phoenix snapped, ignoring Lililanna's comment. She stormed up the stairs pausing at the top to yell, "If Gideon comes back don't eat him alive." She didn't wait for a response.

Phoenix opened her eyes to the building shaking. She was on her feet and down the stairs in an instant. Everyone else was staring around in surprise.

"I thought only people that had-"

"Can it," Phoenix snapped. She walked right outside and stopped dead, "That's how." Copies of her and her companions stood in front of her. There were certainly a lot of them but she didn't doubt she could beat them. There was one copy for each of them present.

"I was wondering if I'd have to blow you all to hell."

"You're a sick impression of me," Phoenix snapped.

"Do I not come up to your standards?"

"Not really," Phoenix smirked. She looked at Lilianna over her shoulder, "And you thought I was an ugly bitch."

"She's definitely not nearly as pretty as you," Lilianna agreed.

"Why am I standing in front of us?" Ral asked.

"Robotic copies," Jace dropped from the overhang above them.

"Cat Ears!"

"That's the most insulting nickname I've ever heard."

Jace looked at his copy, "I don't know. I kind of like it."

Three blades of a sural shot out at the telepath. He knocked Ral back and flipped over it. Ral stumbled and fell, allowing him to be missed entirely.

"So are we going to fight ourselves or are we gonna pick on someone else?" Chandra asked.

"Pick someone else," both Elspeth's said.

"Well it looks like it's Jace vs. Gideon. Any objections?" Lilianna asked.

Everyone shook their heads. Lilianna shrugged, "Then let's play.

The fight began. It was certainly an interesting one. Chandra quickly decided that she didn't particularly care for their copies. They were obnoxious and arrogant. All of them were confident but unfortunately had the power to back that confidence up. She ended up fighting Jace which was fun. She really didn't appreciate his constant teleportation. The copies knew them. It made them difficult to beat. They also regenerated at an annoying fast rate making them nearly invincible. Chandra hissed in frustration as Jace again teleported away from her, giving himself the time to heal and the distance needed to shoot seven arrows at her in quick succession. She sliced all of them out of the air.

Lilianna quickly go frustrated. She had picked Elspeth because the woman's copy was infuriatingly self righteous and overbearing. She growled and rotted her flesh away from her metallic shiny skeleton for the third time. The robot got away long enough for most of the muscle to grow back. And once Lilianna reached her again the skin was already growing back. _Ral's got lightning. Light's faster than anything. Well except maybe that bloody assassin. Jace. Tell Ral that I have a plan._

_We'll do._

_Tell him that I'm going to rot away their flesh and he'll have a half second window of opportunity to successfully fry their main operating system. It's in their ribcage where a normal person's lungs would be._

_He knows. _

_Good. _Liliana got to her feet and, ignoring Elspeth's copy, began to cast a devastating spell. The flesh rotted off of every robot copies harsh reflective skeletons and operating system. Instantly lightning flashed between each and everyone and they shut down and turned to smoking stinking piles of molten metal. "Okay, Lightning Mage. That was a little much."

"You said fry them, Princess," Ral shrugged, "so I did."

Lilianna rolled her eyes, "Well at least now we know how to deal with them."

Elspeth nodded.

Gideon walked up a moment later and stared around at them. Jace started easing away almost the moment Gideon arrived. Ral quickly prevented him from going anywhere though. Gideon walked right up to Jace, "I'm sorry."'

Jace's eyes widened, "What are you apologizing for?"

"The way I've treated you. I've treated you unfairly because of something you were never responsible for," Gideon explained.

"Okay?" Jace still looked surprised and confused but said, "Apology accepted."

Chandra sighed in relief, "Yay. Nobody has group shattering issues anymore."

"Except these guys," Lilianna motioned to the molten piles of metal that had once been functioning robots, "They suffer from over confidence and obnoxiousness."

She got a chuckle from everybody.

Chandra stopped laughing and gave everyone in the group a very hard look, "And if you do have a problem and you're not telling me I will kill you."

"She will," Jace and Gideon said in unison.

Ral burst out laughing, "You two are the only ones that are dumb enough and set in your own ways enough that she'd kick your ass."

"I'm not dumb," Jace snapped, "and it wasn't my fault!"

"This time," Chandra said.

"Last time wasn't his fault either," Lilianna corrected her.

"The last time you're talking about was the only time I beat him into unconsciousness. I beat him up plenty more before and after that," Chandra explained.

The others just stared at them.

"Wait? What are you talking about?" Jace asked in confusion.

Chandra and Lilianna started laughing. Chandra shook her head, "Nothing. You guys wouldn't get it anyway."

Lilianna shook her head, "Nope."

"Let's all go back inside," Elspeth suggested.

"Actually-"

"Nope. C'mon Cat Ears," Ral half dragged Jace into the castle. Jace whined and complained all the way.

Chandra shook her head, "Well, we're all back together again."

Lilianna nodded, "Yep."

"Thanks for your help," Chandra turned to fully face the necromancer.

Lilianna nodded, "You helped me. I'm just returning the favor." She smirked, "Though if you must your flattery is very welcome. Continue feeding my ego. I don't mind at all."

"In your dreams Zombie Queen," Chandra shook her head, "That's all the ego boost you're getting from me." The two of them walked back into the castle.


	32. Chapter 33

"I think we have an interesting problem," Ral dropped a piece of paper on the table.

Gideon picked it up and looked at it, "Um..."

"Let me see it," Chandra snatched it out of his hands and her eyes narrowed, "A gladiatorial arena? And they're telling everyone we're all going to be there? That's they're main selling point?"

"Where?" Elspeth asked.

"Ravnica," Chandra said, "How the hell-never mind. I think I know." She sighed, "I'll be right back."

"You're looking for your brother aren't you?" Jace asked.

"Yeah," Chandra nodded.

"What does your brother have to do with this?" Vadanya asked.

"He spreads rumors a lot," Chandra shrugged.

"I think I might know where he is," Jace said. He led Chandra through the Blind Eternities to Zendikar. Her brother, Jarvis, was there. He was fighting very large construct soldiers. She recognized them as being what Jace had called Templars. The last one fell to a blade in the back. Chandra walked up to her brother and his companion, "I have a question."

"Sis!" Jarvis wrapped her in a bone crushing bear hug.

"Alright. Alright," Chandra hissed. She sighed when her brother didn't let go. She punched him in the gut and kneed him in the face as he doubled over.

"What was that for?"

"Spreading rumors," Chandra shrugged.

"You aren't even going to ask?" Jace asked.

"I knew it was him," Chandra shrugged.

"The worlds deserve to know what you guys are doing for them."

"And because of you we all have to go to this," she held the flyer in his face. He grabbed it and shrugged, "Looks fun. We'll go watch right, Jordyn."

"I guess," Jordyn shrugged. He sighed as the two of them walked away, "What the hell happened to Mr. I'm-A-Mature-Older-Brother?"

"Meh, my little sister can take care of herself now so that means that I can annoy the hell out of her now."

Jordyn sighed. _Everyone's changed. Well except her. _

Chandra hissed through gritted teeth, "Looks like we're taking an extended vacation to entertain the people of Ravnica."

"That's great," Gideon sighed.

"I don't think we should," Jace said suddenly, "It seems...weird."

"We don't really have much of a choice. We're expected," Kaechia pointed out, "It would be against our interests to let the people of any world down. We've got a good reputation at the moment. We don't want it to seem that it's all a lie."

"I hate logic," Chandra sighed.

"I still-"

"We'll rig it," Lilianna suggested.

"What do you mean?" Gideon asked, "We can't-"

"Jace has a bad feeling," Lilianna explained.

Chandra jumped in, "If we decide right now which one of us is going to get the farthest in the game then-"

"We can have the upper hand over any potential enemy that is watching us," Lilianna finished, "It will allow us to hide our true potential."

"Then who's making it to the top?" Lylly asked.

Everyone looked at Chandra.

Chandra chuckled nervously, "Okay...Me?"

"Unless you don't want to," Gideon shrugged.

"We all know you're competitive Beautiful," Ral shrugged, "It's best if we just let you get to the top."

"Besides, you have a very wide array of skills and can likely win without revealing all of them," Elspeth said.

"The rest of us are hard pressed to win without giving every tactic we have away," Gideon added.

Chandra motioned towards Jace, "What about him?"

"His strength is in his secrets," Kallist shrugged.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Fine. I'll win it then."

Everyone nodded. Ral led the way to Ravnica. Along the way he explained that the Izzet, Boros and Azorius have been preparing gadgets and weapons and whatnot for them since the battle arena had begun construction. Each guild was prepared for any battle tactic they think the planeswalkers would have.

"We'll have to head towards the Boros guildhall. All the guilds are giving what they have to this tournament but because we're special guests we're going to be treated to special training sessions," Ral explained, "so we can learn to use our gadgets."

"Brilliant," Jace muttered.

"So the odds are already tipped in our favor," Kaechia shook her head.

Ral led the way to the guildhall.

"Welcome," a Boros commander nodded respectfully to them, "You're the special participants of the tournament?"

"Some of us," Elspeth nodded.

"Others don't fight," Gideon explained.

"Ah," the commander nodded, "Very well. Tajic will meet you inside and you will be led to your individual training grounds."

"Alright!" Chandra grinned. She was already excited. She was going to destroy all of her friends even if they had to fake losing.

_We're not going easy on you just because you're supposed to win. _Jace's voice echoed in her head.

Chandra stuck her tongue out at him.

"Welcome," Tajic nodded to them, "This is the training ground and each of you will be given equipment and weaponry based off of your specific fighting style." He paused, "And those of that aren't fighting can sit there," he motioned to a row of benches across the field, "and watch."

Elspeth nodded.

"Wait, Elspeth's not fighting?" Ral looked at her in surprise.

"Well somebody has to cheer us on," Lilianna shrugged.

"You're just looking for someone to feed your ego," Chandra crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh really?" Lilianna glared at her, "And you aren't?"

"I don't have an ego when I'm comparing it to yours," Chandra smirked.

"Ladies," Tajic interrupted tentatively, "Please don't."

"Of course," Lilianna nodded.

Chandra elbowed her in the ribs.

Lilianna glared at her but remained silent.

Tajic asked each of the ones that were fighting how they fought and then directed them to where an Izzet, a Boros and an Azorius mage each stood. Jace didn't want to fight but Chandra didn't give him a choice. She wanted to fight him so he was going to participate whether he wanted to or not. Jace was led to the far edge of the training field. He sighed. _I don't understand why I have to do this. This is stupid._

"How do you fight?" the Izzet mage asked.

"Bow," Jace muttered.

"So distance," she nodded, "What about height?"

"What do you mean?" Jace asked. He could look into her head but really didn't feel like it.

"Well," she grabbed a pair of armored boots and set them down in front of him, "These will add a boost to any jump you make."

Jace nodded uncertainly, "Okay." The idea appealed to him less and less as she continued explaining them. When she finished he really didn't like the idea. "That doesn't sound very user friendly."

"Don't worry. They should be safe," she tried to assure him. The armor opened in the back allowing him to step into them. He hesitated, "Should be? That's not very reassuring."

"No one's died yet," the Boros legionnaire assured him.

"I doubt you will," the Izzet mage added.

Jace stepped into the boots and they closed around his legs. _This is great._ "So I just jump?" _I really don't like these already._

"Yes. Just jump. How high you go depends on how much energy you put into your jump."

Jace swallowed. _And if I fly away?_ He decided to test the highest he'd be able to go and jumped. "Whoa!" He twisted as he went flying into the air. He managed to right himself before landing.

"You're the first person I've seen successfully land that," the Azorius mage said flatly.

Jace glanced at them before shooting the Izzet mage a scathing look, "It should be safe when I'm the only one to successfully land that?"

"Well the boots don't control themselves," the Izzet mage snorted, "They just boost."

Jace hissed through gritted teeth, "Alright. Fine." He also got special archer's gauntlets that supposedly increase accuracy. He didn't believe that for a second. He knew how well the mind could trick the body. Tell someone the gauntlets will increase the accuracy of a shot and it would seem like they did.

"I'd go without the cloak in the tournament," the Boros legionnaire suggested.

Jace shook his head, "That's not happening."

"The Boros have cloaks with clasps that snap open easily," the Azorius mage suggested.

"Well yeah," the Boros legionnaire led him through the guildhall and into a room filled with cloaks and armor and similar things.

"Are they all white and red?" Jace asked in disgust. He wasn't fond of either color in large amounts.

"There are darker ones in the back."

Jace wandered into the room. He found a dark crimson red one. He looked it over curiously. _It's weird that the Boros would have a cloak that's the color of blood. _He continued on and found a black one with white designs. _Of course there's no blue. It's the Boros. _He rolled his eyes and grabbed the black one. He returned to the doorway and was led back into the field. Gideon had a deadly looking bladed shield. The blades on the outside edge of the circular shield spun, appearing to become a single blade. Chandra and Ral had all sorts of Izzet gadgets while Kaechia and Lilianna had more Azorius esk equipment. _Three days. Three days to learn to fight with all this junk. _Jace summoned the bow to his hand and leaped into the air.


	33. Chapter 34

Chandra grinned. She was fighting some Boros commander for her first fight. She wasn't going to be knocked out of this tournament very easily. She knew she was competitive and probably would've come out on top even without her and her companions deciding that she would. It made her somewhat sad that she couldn't fight them at their full power but it also made sense. If unwanted eyes were watching they didn't want to give everything away. The commander didn't last long. The way the tournament was set up someone would keep going until they were knocked out of the game. Ral was already out, having been defeated by Kaechia. Kaechia was her opponent after the guildmage. Each round was started with a "warm up" opponent and then the true opponent was the second fight of the round. Chandra grinned as the ice mage walked out to the center of the field. The blond was greeted with excited cheers. She had gained herself quite the fanbase in her wins over Ral and an extremely powerful Gruul beast mage. Ral still had his loyal fans but Chandra doubted the annoyingly socially adept lightning mage would ever lose a fan. _He may be arrogant but he knows how to tell someone exactly what they want to hear when the need arises._

Kaechia nodded politely to Chandra, "Fire mage."

"Ice witch," Chandra winked.

Kaechia put her hand palm out in front of her and instantly ice shards as fast as lightning and sharp as steel flew at Chandra. She greeted them with a wall of flames that took the form of a bird and flew towards Kaechia. She knew none of her companions would ever go easy on her but that made it fun. They couldn't let it seem like they were dropping out of the tournament to let her win. If Chandra went a straight day without a defeat then she'd be automatically a part of the final battles and would be removed from the fighting list until that time. That meant all she could do would be to watch but she didn't really mind watching people beat the hell out of each other.

She defeated Kaechia after a harsh and exhausting battle. Kaechia however, with her personality, gave in once she saw she could no longer win. She nodded respectfully to Chandra as she walked out of the arena. Chandra smirked and lifted her hands into the air. The motion was greeted with a roar. Her next round was Gideon after a couple of rapid animals. She allowed the entire arena floor to be wreathed in flames, filling the animals with instinctual fear before taking a large sword and killing them quickly. Gideon walked out into the arena. Chandra grinned, "Law mage. Ooh."

Gideon remained calm and steely. The blades on his shield began to spin like a chainsaw. His sural glowed with a bright golden light.

Chandra shot forward and ducked under a thrown shield. _That was definitely unexpected. That was almost my head. _She flipped over his sural and swiped at his face with her sword. He dodged it and shot towards his shield. She sent flames crashing after him. He rolled, grabbed his shield and blocked them with a shield of glowing gold. The people watched in tense silence as the fight continued to it's brutal conclusion. Chandra ended up getting her hands on his shield and after that he was screwed. She may suck at throwing anything farther than ten feet but he had a difficult time getting to her with it in her hands. All of her friends would have a second chance tomorrow but she was the winner of that day. Once they were knocked out of the running twice they'd be gone permanently. Chandra already had her one way ticket to victory now that she'd gone undefeated for two rounds of the three rounds of the day.

"Snowflake completely destroyed me!" Ral whined, "She was one of the ones I didn't want to fight first!"

"You'd just be completely destroyed by all of us," Chandra shrugged.

"No," Ral smirked.

"There's a difference between me destroying you and you giving up once it looked like I was going to win," Kaechia corrected.

Elspeth shook her head, "Alright. There's three more rounds tomorrow so all of you that are participating need to quiet down and rest."

They were in an inn that was near the arena. Sleep didn't come easy, especially not for Jace. He sat on a balcony railing and stared at the moon. He still felt uneasy about the entire idea and the feeling that they were being watched only got worse with every hour that went by. He gritted his teeth and tried, not for the first time, to tell himself that it was just him being paranoid. That didn't help him shove the feeling away.

_"Interesting. Very interesting. Areu. Have you found that damned artifact yet?"_

_"Not yet sir. I think I've some leads but I have yet to find it."_

_"Very well."_

_"How goes the arena Sir?"_

_"They rigged it," _Jace recognized the voice and a shudder ran down his spine. _"However it is still very very intriguing."_

_Areu nodded and left the room._

Jace blinked and he was again staring at the moon on Ravnica. He swallowed and glanced over his shoulder. The room was empty but he heard someone walking past his door. From the aura the person gave off he guessed it was Chandra. He opened the door and pulled her into the room by her shoulder. She stumbled and fell. Her orange eyes glared up at him, "What the hell was that?"

"He knows," Jace said simply.

"Wait? Who-HE knows?" Chandra asked.

Jace rolled his eyes, "He designed it. I knew this was stupid."

"Chill," Chandra sighed and got to her feet.

Jace gave her an incredulous look, "You say that like it's an easy thing to do."

"There's nothing we can do at the moment," Chandra sighed, "Besides, we rigged it."

"And he knows that. That doesn't stop it from helping him gage our abilities. _You_ aren't holding back at all," Jace glared at her with dark eyes.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "_I am_ but holding back too much let's everyone know that something's up."

Jace hissed through gritted teeth. He didn't care about that. He knew that the more the dragon saw the more able to kill them their construct copies would be. "Maybe you should try a little harder instead of just treating this like a game."

"It's not a game," Chandra snarled, "and I know it's not. What I'm saying is there's covering up our tracks and then there's revealing our plans to the world while thinking we're covering up our tracks. The second option is a disaster and entirely counter productive."

"Whatever," Jace walked back to the balcony and looked back up at the moon.

"Whatever what?" Chandra walked up and stood beside him.

Jace rolled his eyes, "He's looking for something. There was an urgency to about how he talked about it. I don't know what it is but it's definitely big and not good for us if he gets it."

"Great," Chandra muttered sarcastically, "It's your day tomorrow by the way."

"Oh and?" Jace gritted his teeth, "I don't feel like we should be wasting time play fighting each other."

"Would you relax?" Chandra hissed, "We aren't just play fighting, Jace. We're-"

"We aren't learning to work together either."

"We're learning to fight each other. If we can beat each other we can beat those copies," Chandra put her hands on her hips, "Think of it that way. It's not a waste of time."

"Fine," Jace had already started ignoring her and was just sulking now.

Chandra's eyes flashed angrily but her voice was even as she asked, "What do you know that we don't then? What about this is eating at you bad enough that you're like this?"

Jace didn't look at her and instead turned to walk to the side of the balcony.

"Jace." Chandra followed him.

"What?" Jace muttered.

"Are you going to answer my questions or am I going to pry the answers out of you with a crowbar?"

"That sounds painful," Jace muttered.

Chandra gritted her teeth, "I can go get a crowbar if you like."

"I'd rather not."

"Then answer the bloody questions!" Chandra's voice rose in exasperation.

"Sorry," Jace muttered, "but I don't know."

"My ass," Chandra crossed her arms over her chest, "You do know. You just don't want to talk about it."

Jace spun around to face her, "Of course I don't want to talk about it! There's no part of any of it that you could even come close to understanding if you genuinely tried to!"

"And how do _you _know that if you've never tried to tell anyone?!" Chandra shot back at him.

"There's no point in burdening-"

"It's not burdening!" Chandra interrupted him, "How many times do I have to try to get you to understand that?! Talking to someone else about your problems isn't burdening them with your problems."

"And you'll go on a bloody rampage if I tell you," Jace snapped.

"I will not!" Chandra hissed, "There are some things that will get that reaction out of me but talking to me isn't one! You should know that!"

"Right," Jace rolled his eyes, "I don't want to talk so go away."

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "And we wouldn't be having this conversation if what you just said was the truth."

Jace gritted his teeth. He hated how good she was at reading people. She could see straight through anyone and it annoyed him. It made lying to her close to impossible and getting her to leave him alone was even harder. He sighed and sat on the ground of the balcony, "Fine."

Chandra sat next to him and looked at him expectantly.

Jace spent a good amount of time thinking about how much he should tell her. He never talked to anybody so he was debating whether he should just give her a vague answer. Then he remembered how well giving vague answers had worked for him in the past. Vague answers only made her dig. He sighed, "I-well. Ugh whatever. There's a lot of stuff that nobody knows about me. Let's put it that way." He didn't bother looking at her and started to tentatively explain what he knew of the constructs Bolas used. "They're multiple kinds with multiple fighting styles. Areu's created large, slow ones called Templars. If they manage to hit you then you're done for. They can stun you long enough to hit you again and again and again." As he continued it felt more like he was talking to himself. He almost forgot she was listening three times. He left out certain parts he really didn't want to talk about but explained everything that was important. He swallowed, "There's a reason I am the way I am. I was one of many attempts to create a perfect...military leader. Someone that could order another to kill, or kill someone themself without a second thought. I was the only that really worked," Jace shrugged, "I act guilty but I've never actually-"

"That's a dirty lie."

Jace lifted his head and stared at her, "What?"

"Would you be here if you couldn't feel guilty?" Chandra asked, "Sure it's hard to convince ourselves we're human when we've spent our entire lives being treated like we're not. That doesn't mean we aren't human. That doesn't mean we're robots. You can't make a robot out of a person. Even if it's a construct with a human mind it's still human. Do _you _truly believe that just because you have cat ears, eyes and a tail and you've been altered so that you're faster, and stronger, and more intelligent than any normal human or creature even that you're a monster? Is that how _you_ feel? Even when Gideon hated you and didn't accept you as a part of the group, you refused to let him die. You refused the allow the possibility to even exist. Is that something a monster would do?"

Jace blinked at her in surprise, "I-No."

"Exactly," Chandra looked satisfied. She grinned, "Now. I want you to sleep. And I mean sleep."

Jace's eyes widened, "But-"

"No," Chandra shook her head, "No arguing. You're going to sleep."

"There's a reason I don't sleep," Jace muttered.

"When we talk to someone else about what's bugging us it tends to leave us alone," Chandra smiled.

Jace looked at her through narrowed eyes. She sighed and sat back down, "My spark ignited when I was accidentally responsible for the deaths of everyone I knew and my entire family." She paused, "Well almost. My brother's still around but he's a planeswalker that stopped by the visit every once in a while."

"I don't have a family."

"We're your family," Chandra shrugged, "All of us. Family doesn't have to be related by blood." She stood back up, "You are seriously pessimistic."

"I'm practical," Jace muttered.

"That's not practical," Chandra kneeled down in front of him, "That's focusing on everything that's wrong with you, your life, and everyone around you. That's being pessimistic."

Jace looked at her. Suddenly he smirked, "Don't expect me to go easy on you in the final battles just cause of this."

"I would destroy you if you did," Chandra returned his smirk tenfold, "Now sleep. Tomorrow's your day. You have to win two of the three rounds at least in order to be able to fight me."

"I have rocket shoes," Jace shrugged, "I doubt winning will be very difficult."

"Don't get cocky," Chandra skipped back into the room, "If you aren't asleep when I drop by in the morning I'm killing you and then you won't be able to participate." She left.

Jace glanced at the moon, "Whatever." He went inside and flopped onto the bed that was in the room. He fell asleep relatively slowly but it happened eventually.


	34. Chapter 35

Jace opened his eyes to bright sunlight filtering in through the balcony doors. He sat up and looked around.

"Hurry up!" Chandra called.

"Shut up," Jace muttered, "I'll get up when I want to." He yawned and looked out the window. He didn't exactly remember closing the balcony doors but definitely didn't mind that they were closed. He saw the boots the Izzet had given him sitting by the bed. He bit his lower lip. _They're difficult but could provide a definite advantage. _He sighed and put them on, "At least these ones aren't as heavy as the first ones they gave me." Jace walked slowly down the stairs and looked around. Ral shot up to him, "C'mon Cat Ears." He wrapped his arm around Jace's shoulders and dragged him to the corner they were sitting in.

"Let go!" Jace snapped.

Ral finally let go and flopped into a seat. Jace walked around the table and leaned in the corner.

"So," Chandra said slowly, "There are five days left of the general competition and then two days of 'final matches'."

"Alright," Ral nodded.

Jace sighed, "The event starts in two hours." He left the inn and wandered the streets of Ravnica. He kept his hood up so as to avoid odd looks. He didn't feel like using up energy that was better placed elsewhere to create an illusion to hide his ears and tail. He didn't like anything about the situation but accepted it. He shrugged indifferently, "Apparently Chandra wants to face me in the final rounds so I have to get through today." _That shouldn't be that hard. _He sighed, "I will never understand the excitement of watching other people fight each other." _Or the excitement that redhead gets out of beating up her "friends"._

Winning the day was easy. Jace easily won every round he was a part of. The next days were won by people he didn't know. Much to the redhead's disappointment he backed out of fighting her halfway through the battle, making her the winner of the entire tournament.

"I forfeit," Jace said as he dodged a blow to the head.

Chandra glared at him, "Why?"

"Because there's no point to this," Jace shrugged. He smirked, "It'll be a draw and I don't want to fight for that long. It's exhausting."

"You are such a lazy no good-"

"Now, now, if he wishes to forfeit that must be respected."

Jace's eyes narrowed as he studied the man that had interrupted her.

"I'll fight you instead if you wish to continue fighting."

Chandra looked at him in surprise. He was large and muscular but was also probably deceptively fast.

_Don't kill her. Just injure her. Greatly._

Jace's eyes widened then narrowed, "If you want to fight her you'll have to wait for another time."

Chandra looked at Jace in surprise, "Wait-"

"You just backed out of fighting her. I have to right to challenge don't I?"

Jace fixed him with an icy glare, "And I'm saying you'll have to wait."

"Guys-"

"Really? I don't-"

Flames exploded around them. Jace put up a magical shield while the other one just took it, "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Chandra glared at both of them, "All three of us can fight then if you two can't freaking decide!"

Jace glanced at her, "I have no-"

"That sounds like fun," he threw a fast punch at Jace.

Jace's eyes widened and he back flipped away.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Or you two can fight."

"Oh, I'm not leaving you outta this!" he kicked at her.

Chandra caught it in burning hands.

Jace hissed in frustration, "Dammit." He summoned twin swords to his hands. He held them in a reverse grip and held one parallel to the ground. The other was pointed towards the ground.

Chandra's eyes widened in surprise, "Didn't know he could use swords. I thought he sucked at swords." She slid under a punch that would've hit her in the head.

"You're fast huh?"

She jumped back from an attack that would've crushed her. Her eyes widened then narrowed, "Alright." Bright flames gathered around her, "We can play this game."

Jace created illusory copies of her that copied her exact movements.

He stepped back in surprise and cursed under his breath.

Jace cast a spell that augmented his already inhuman speed. He then cast the same spell with Chandra as it's target. _It's odd augmenting someone else's abilities. _Flames continued to coalesce around her.

Their opponent started to attack her illusions.

Elspeth watched worriedly, "This wasn't supposed to be what happened but no one cares."

Gideon shrugged, "Those two can handle it."

Elspeth nodded. _I certainly hope you're right. There's something wrong with this situation. And I can't place what it is._

Kaious landed on her head and shoulders, "Relax. They'll be fine. No matter the situation it can be overcome with teamwork."

Lilianna glanced at him and then looked down at the scene before them.

Jace opened his eyes and Chandra leaped forward in a streak of flames. A phoenix solidified from the flames around her and flew through their opponent. Jace leaped into the air, activating the boots the Izzet had given to him. A blade composed of flames appeared in Chandra's hand and she shot back and forth, slashing at him as she went.

Gideon shook his head, "This is insane. They're both so fast."

Elspeth nodded distractedly. She was worried about the blank look on Jace's face. She looked at the dragon sitting on her shoulders. Kaious shrugged, "It's a very, very long and complicated story."

Chandra barely managed to get out of the way of a soul sucking fist. _Black mana._

Jace nodded. He was caught by his cloak but it snapped off and he landed and slid backwards. Flaming orange wings spread from Chandra's wings, causing the crowd to gasp in shock.

"This isn't a game anymore," Lilianna whispered.

"What do you mean Princess?" Ral asked.

Lilianna looked at him, "His magic allows him to capture and control the souls of those he touches."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

Jace glanced up at her and then at Chandra. _Don't let him touch you. _He rose to his feet and darted around him in a circle.

Chandra nodded. _Done. _She launched herself forward and slashed at him.

Jace followed right behind her. He ignored the crowds cheers. _This is more than just a game. This guy's not letting up until we're lying nearly dead on the ground or he's dead. _He gritted his teeth as he pulled away from his infuriated punches. He had multiple small cuts. So far Jace and Chandra were fast enough to avoid his attacks but they weren't doing a lot of damage. Jace knew that many small hits could add up but if they continued with the hit and run pattern then this was going to take a while.

"You two are powerful," he grinned, "Maybe I'll just leave your bodies soulless husks."

"That's essentially killing us," Jace snapped. He grabbed the back of Chandra's collar and pulled her backwards as he went to hit her. He glanced at her, "Didn't I say to be careful?"

"Shut up," Chandra snapped.

Jace rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

"It's not the same. You're bodies are still usable. You'll just be mine forever," he smirked. A dark aura surrounded him.

Jace leaped back and Chandra put her arms in front of her face. A strong wind tugged at them and the shrill cries of trapped souls echoed in their ears. Jace felt bile rise in his throat. Their opponent grinned darkly. Jace gritted his teeth. _Chandra. He's not going to stop until we kill him or we're with those souls of his._

She glanced at him and then at their opponent. _Then we'll kill him._

Jace nodded.

Chandra turned her attention back to the black well of souls that were screeching in agony opening in front of them. _Did he just agree to kill someone? The cat eared guy that has a problem with blood and death just agreed to kill someone. 'I was one of many attempts to create a perfect...military leader. Someone that could order another to kill or kill someone themselves without a second thought.' _Chandra glanced at him and noticed for the first time a darkly blank expression on his face as he watched. Her eyes widened. _He really will do it. That's almost terrifying. _Her attention was instantly turned back to the battle at hand as a shadow passed over her. She dodged the hand flying at her, barely managing to get out of the way. _That was close. Didn't like that aura much. _She shot along the outer edge of the sandy floor. _Hmm. Alright. So getting close to him is a no go at the moment. We'll have to go ranged if we want this to work out in our favor at all. He'd have to touch us to capture us. _Flames gathered around her and took the form of a phoenix. The bird flew through the air and crashed into the man. The souls screeching grew louder as their essences burned in her flames. She didn't pause and summoned a large explosive launcher from her storage gauntlet.

_A little to the left. He's expecting you to be off but it'll go right with the way you are now. _

Chandra shifted just barely to the left. She was being charged at but everything seemed to slow down. She let the missile fly and then the weapon disappeared and she shot right after it.

_This is really risky. _Jace warned. She saw a barely visible shield form around her. Chandra smirked. _Don't worry about it. Arrows from above if you please. Get his attention on you._

_Done. _Jace leaped into the air and twisted so he could aim.

Chandra grinned as his attention turned to Jace.

_He suspects. You're going to need to be fast. Very fast. _

_Got it. _Chandra slammed a blade deep into the man's torso.

_He's going for a hit from the left. _

She dodged under it and sliced along the bottom of his forearm. Jace landed. _He's going to spin kick and then slam both his fists into the ground, expecting you to dodge the kick. _Chandra ducked under his kick and rolled to the side of his fists in the half instant she had. Too late she realized that his attack had a stunning radius effect she had been unaware of.

Jace suddenly appeared standing over her. He created a barrier and a handful of illusions. The man's fist, surrounded by soul sucking shadows, slammed into the barrier. He grabbed her wrist and teleported the two of them away as the barrier shattered, "Sorry. I didn't realize he had the ability to stun."

Chandra nodded. She got to her feet and shook her head, "Don't worry about it."

Jace nodded and the two of them turned back to him.

"Crafty aren't you two?"

Chandra shot forward. She watched Arrows fly past her with extreme accuracy. She had never expected to use it but she had a blade with Phoenix Berry poison on her. She grabbed it and sliced blocked his fist with the blade. The blade slid between his middle and ring fingers and sliced through his hand. She kicked is aside and stabbed him in the gut. His magic died as his concentration broke. Sores started to open along his arm and he gritted his teeth in pain. Chandra killed him with a swift blow to the chest. She also slit his neck just to be sure. She stumbled away from him as exhaustion overtook her. She shook her head to clear it, "That was...exciting." She looked at Jace. The blank expression was gone but he didn't look as broken as she'd expected him to.

He walked up to her, "Too exciting. Can we be done now?"

A black cloud covered the sky and ash started to fall. Chandra whirled around, "What the hell?"

Jace bit his lip, "That's not a cloud."

"It's creatures isn't it?" Chandra hissed angrily.

Jace shrugged slightly, "You could say that."

"Yes. You could say that. Couldn't you?"

Chandra turned. She recognized the dull eyes of a copy. _Gideon. Damn. Why him? And why now?_


	35. Chapter 36

"Well, since you're here," Chandra glared at him, "It'd be nice to know what the dragon's looking for."

"Can't say," Gideon shrugged.

_Look out. He's not in a talkative mood and he's more powerful than the last version we fought._

Chandra flipped over his sural's tails and ducked under them as they whipped back around. Jace jumped back, out of range. _He's a lot more powerful than the others we've seen. Not as powerful as our Gideon but close. _

Chandra cursed under her breath, "Dammit." _On Ravnica? This makes it difficult. _"The guilds won't be able to take on these guys and hope to win."

"Are you sure you can?" A Lilianna copy sneered, "With this many anyway?"

Chandra growled, "Sure. We'll come up with something."

Jace glanced at her, "Be careful. I'm going to tell the guilds to focus on getting people out of the way." He disappeared.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Be careful he says." She glanced from Gideon to Lilianna and back again. _This is a really open place. Damn. _She shot forward and slid right past the two of them. _This is going to get exhausting real quick. Star. A little help would be great._

_Already on our way. _

Chandra sighed and slammed Lilianna into the ground. She then lifted her up and shoved her into Gideon's sural. Chandra used a blade to catch the sural and tie it around itself, trapping both of them for the time being. She sliced the construct copy's legs out from under her and leaped at Gideon as he struggled to free the whip-like weapon. She summoned the Templar's sword she had picked up to her hand and sliced through Gideon's chest. The sural dissipated, freeing the Lilianna copy. She leaped at Chandra from her left. A copy of herself appeared on her other side, already on it's way towards her. Chandra cursed. _Dammit. _Both constructs were more powerful than the ones they'd dealt with previously, closer to their original's power level. They were also fast and unresponsive to any sort of pain. She twisted and kicked Lilianna away. She blocked the attack from her copy with the sword. _Shit! Shit! Shit! _She knocked her copy back and ducked under Lilianna's attack. Suddenly her copy dropped to the ground, wreathed in white flames. Beyond it stood Elspeth. Chandra's eyes widened. Her eyes were a bright glowing gold and her left eye had a glowing flame like energy flowing out of it. Chandra didn't know the nature of that ability. She just knew she had it because she was technically dead. _At least she's ditched that creepy mask thing. _She sliced through Lilianna's chest and the main control systems. She exploded in flames and shards of shrapnel.

"I have an idea." Jace appeared in front of them and suddenly they were on top of a tall building.

"What idea?" Elspeth asked. Everyone else was there as well.

Jace turned to Ral, "If I'm not mistaken the Izzet have devices that can expand and prolong the effects of a spell."

"Those devices are prone to exploding after use though," Ral warned.

"That's fine," Jace shrugged.

"I'll go talk to the Izzet then," Ral took off.

Jace turned to Lilianna and handed her his bow, "I borrowed this and it can absorb the mana that's put into it and charge the arrows with that energy. If you can charge it then I can fire it off."

"What about the size of the forces we're dealing with?" Gideon asked.

Jace glanced at him uneasily but his voice was steady as he said, "Well..." He looked at the sky, "I could shoot from up there."

"How are you going to get up there?" Lilianna asked, "I'm seeing a lot of holes here."

Jace rolled his eyes. He looked at Gideon and then at Chandra, "I'll get a boost."

Chandra grinned.

Elspeth nodded, "And then once that's done they'd be easier to eliminate."

Jace nodded.

Gideon glanced at him, "What do you mean by a boost?"

Jace turned to look at him.

"We get the throw him," Chandra assumed.

"Yeah," Jace sighed. _She is way too enthused by that idea. _

"Oh." Gideon shook his head.

Lilianna and Chandra took off into the air. Lilianna went higher than Chandra by quite a bit.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Kallist asked.

Jace nodded. He was completely calm. Gideon gave him a boost and Jace added to that using the rockets in the boots the Izzet had given him. Chandra caught him. She spun three times in the air before letting him go. Once he reached her height Lilianna threw the bow at him like a boomerang. He caught it and fired off six arrows at once. The moment the arrows hit the ground everything around them began to rot away. The flesh that protected the metal skeleton of the constructs rotted away. The first ones affected were the ones on the outside. The Izzet expanded the spell and made a semispherical bubble out of the spell. Fireballs and lightning bolts began to rain from a clear sky. Shards of ice that were harder than steel cut through the center controls of any construct they came into contact with. A bright light flashed and evaporated the constructs caught within it. Kaechia created a platform of ice as high as she could. Jace landed on it and rolled. Stairs of ice formed on the northern side down to the ground.

"Oh c'mon. Make it a slide, Snowflake!" Ral whined.

Kaechia gave him a hard look, "That's rude. Ice is hard enough for most to walk on. A slide is not necessary."

Ral sighed, "Okay. Boring."

Jace glared down at him, "Not cool." Though he was far away his voice rang clearly in their ears.

_You'll never find it. The Fallen Angel's Lost Treasure is beyond even his reach. _Jace froze. It was his voice, most likely from a copy but he couldn't identify which one or from where. It's voice seemed to ring from every direction. He continued down the stairs like nothing had happened. _The Fallen Angel's Lost Treasure. That seems like an unnecessarily long name. I'll look into it before I tell them._

The Black Lotus, Boros and Azorius took the constructs in the sky down relatively quickly after that.

Chandra flopped onto the couch that sat in the center of the room. The Black Lotus Inn was still open. Only three districts had been damaged in the attack. Three days had passed. The planeswalkers had agreed to help rebuild the city, on Elspeth's insistence. It was near the end of the day and she was exhausted. Jace was in the library. And everyone else was in the "guest" area of the inn.

"Phoenix," Dragon said uneasily.

"What?" she looked at the half dragon.

"Well...I would've told you about this earlier but-"

"If you're talking about Orriyon I already know," Chandra snapped.

"Sorry," Dragon swallowed nervously, "She did insist."

"I know," Chandra nodded. She got to her feet, "Do you know where Elspeth is?"

"Her room I think," Dragon shrugged.

Chandra left and found Elspeth in her room, "Why does Orriyon die every time no matter what anyone else tries to do to prevent it?"

Elspeth looked at her in surprise. Her gaze lowered, "I figured you'd ask about her eventually." She sighed. She looked up and met Chandra's gaze, "Orriyon, like Lucy, who has shared her fate every time, is not human. They are something called an esper. An esper is a being created from a piece of a planeswalker's spark. The spark is broken into however many pieces and the power is divided. Only someone or something with an extreme amount of power can create an esper. They are given a purpose and once that purpose is fulfilled they fade from existence completely."

"Fade from existence?" Chandra asked.

"Every trace of them is gradually removed from existence until no one even knew they existed in the first place," Elspeth explained.

Chandra's eyes widened in horror, "What? Do the two of them share an 'original'?"

"I do not know who the original is," Elspeth shook her head, "I know that Lucy was created by Bolas in response to Ugin creating Orriyon."

"The dragons created them just for them to fade? And they were okay with this?"

"Lucy never knew."

"Orriyon did?"

Elspeth nodded, "She knew full well. When knowledge of the loops became a secret she kept her 'siblings' from knowing about her knowledge of them. It's the reason she always knew more than she should have. Every loop she was born with the knowledge of all the previous ones."

"And that didn't make her bitter?" Chandra was shocked. Orriyon had always been helpful and happy though she had been distant. _I had always assumed she was distant because of her ability to see the future. Dammit. _

"No. She had a loyalty in her that couldn't be dominated."

"And that was put there on purpose wasn't it?" Chandra snapped.

Elspeth nodded, "Yes. Ugin did that on purpose. Her task was to assist us in destroying Bolas. Once we had succeeded then she would've faded anyway."

Chandra hissed through gritted teeth.

Jace paced up and down the bookshelves of the library again. He growled, "There's nothing in here about any kind of treasure like that."

"Maybe it's not an actual treasure," Kaious suggested.

"I've read this entire library three times," Jace said, "An angel's treasure has never been mentioned."

"Maybe you could ask Chandra or Elspeth about it," Kaious suggested.

"No. I don't want them to freak out over nothing if that's what it is."

"Would Bolas really be looking for something that's not important?"

Jace bit his lower lip, "Well. I don't know enough to tell them. Maybe they know more than one kind of treasure."

Kaious sighed, "Okay."

Jace sat down thoughtfully.

"Are you okay?" Kaious asked.

"Huh?" Jace looked at him in confusion, "Yeah I'm fine. Why?"

"You look pale," Kaious shrugged.

"Nothing's wrong," Jace shook his head. _I am having difficulty focusing but that's not really something can be blamed on being pale. _He glanced up as Chandra walked into the library. He opened his mouth to talk to her but then noticed her attitude and thought better of it. He sighed and left her be. _Nevermind. I'll talk to her later. Why would Bolas be after an __**angel's**__ treasure? It doesn't make any sense. _

"What's up with you?" Chandra asked suddenly.

Jace jumped, "What?"

"You're pale," Chandra rolled her eyes.

"So?" Jace shrugged, "I don't feel sick."

"Alright," Chandra sighed and sat down, "Have you heard of something called an esper?"

"No," Jace shook his head.

"Oh."

"Why?" Jace cocked his head to the side. It wasn't often that one of them came across something he didn't already know about.

"Apparently Orriyon's an esper," Chandra shrugged.

_That wasn't exactly enlightening and I get the feeling she knows more than that. _"Okay. And?" Jace sighed. He rolled his eyes, "You know you can't yell at me for giving you vague answers if you're going to do the same to me."

She glanced at him, "I know."

"Beautiful, Cat Ears, there you are," Ral sighed. He was out of breath as he jogged up to them, "Gideon wants Danya to help him with something but no one can seem to find her."

"Let her be," Chandra shook her head.

"Huh?"

"Orriyon's dead. She's probably not in the best of moods," Chandra explained.

"Oh. They were sisters or something like that huh?" Ral nodded, "I'll go tell Gideon then."

"He already knows," Jace rolled his eyes.

"Thanks Cat Ears!" Ral pushed down the urge to bug him. He didn't look like he was in a very good mood. Instead he turned around and left the library.

Jace glanced at Chandra, "What is an esper? Since you obviously know more than I do."

"According to Elspeth they're something that's created from a piece of a planeswalkers spark and it takes something crazy powerful to create one. Ugin and Bolas created one. She said she didn't know who the 'original' spark belonged to or if the two espers shared the same 'original' but I think she knows more than she's letting on to."

"Okay?" Jace asked slowly.

"I'm not asking you to spy on her so don't freak out," Chandra rolled her eyes, "I honestly don't care who the 'original' is."

"You're more worried about the dragons," Jace realized.

"If they're that powerful," Chandra said, "then is there really a way to bring this to a close? Will these loops ever end or will Ugin get backed into yet another corner and decide his only option is to reset again?"

Jace found he couldn't answer those questions. This was the first time he had ever heard her sound unsure of her goals. He shrugged, "I guess we won't know until we find out then."

"What worries me most is that Bolas knew. He manipulated the events of this version so that we had a harder time than usual getting along. If he knew about the last one will he know about this one if it's repeated. Then we're the ones at a disadvantage."

"I didn't know you bothered thinking tactically," Jace muttered.

"Very funny, Cat Ears," Chandra did an awful impression of Ral.

Jace tried not to laugh, "You can be really mean when you want to. That was awful."

Chandra shrugged, "I've never been good at accents. And to my ears he has one."

"It's cause he's from here and you're not," Jace shrugged. He had never really noticed anyone having an accent. Once he thought about it he realized that though his and Ral's were the most prominent they all spoke with a different accent. _Are we really all from a completely different place? How many worlds are out there that none of us have ever encountered then?_

"They piss me off," Chandra growled.

Jace was pulled out of his thoughts. "Who?" he asked.

"The dragons," Chandra shrugged, "They both think they can do whatever they want and let us clean up the mess. We've done it so far."

Jace shrugged, "Well...I don't know. I feel like we're in the situation of the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Yeah," Chandra's eyes narrowed, "You said he was looking for something right?"

Jace nodded, "Yes."

"Do you know what?"

"Well..." Jace bit his lower lip, "I don't really."

"Meaning?"

"I heard one of my copies say that he was looking for some sort of fallen angel's treasure but otherwise I have no clue."

"That would definitely explain why you've been hiding from Gideon and Elspeth in the library then."

"I'm not hiding from them," Jace snapped.

"Yeah, yeah," Chandra got to her feet, "If anything comes up tell me alright."

Jace nodded.

She left the library.


	36. Chapter 37

"What would fallen angel entail?" Jace wondered out loud. _There's so many different things that can mean. It could mean an angel that turned evil or one that has forsaken what the other angels around them stood for. It could also mean an angel that is dead. _"Ugh! I'm not getting anything other than that. It's all I've got to work with and it's not working."

Kaious sighed, "Maybe you should take a break."

"But if Bolas is looking for it then I can't afford to take a break," Jace snapped.

"And if you pass out from exhaustion before you can get an answer you'll lose more time," Kaious said.

Jace let his head rest on the table. He was so glad that the librarian didn't care how long he spent in here. He could read and use as many books as he wanted. He knew the other would be heading back to Sun's Reprieve soon but had no intention of leaving the library early just to fit in with their schedule. He bit his lower lip and lifted his head. He sat back against the chair and cross his arms over his chest.

"Why do you bite your lip like that?" Kaious asked, "Doesn't it hurt?"

"I don't know and it doesn't really hurt," Jace shrugged. He had noticed that Vadanya had basically left the group after the death of her sister. He couldn't say he felt sad knowing Orriyon was gone. He hadn't known her. He knew she'd existed but that was all. He looked around, "Is it just me or is there a pressure in the air?"

"I'd assume there's a pressure in the air," Kaious said.

"But you can't feel it?" Jace asked even though he already knew the answer to the question.

"No. No I can't," Kaious shook his head.

Jace got to his feet, "I'm going to go find the others."

"Okay," Kaious lifted into the air and followed him.

He found Kaechia and Lilianna first. Kaechia looked up as he approached, "Do you need something Jace?"

He shrugged, "Not really. I was just checking something." He turned and walked away.

Lilianna cocked her head to the side as he walked away, "Okay?" She watched him curiously.

"What are you doing?" Kaious asked.

"I'm seeing if any of them know about any sort of angel treasure," Jace shrugged.

Kaious sighed, "You could've just asked them, you know. I'm sure they'd be more than willing to answer."

"That's awkward," Jace shook his head.

Kaious shook his head, "It's probably only awkward to you, you know. But that's the reason you do it."

Jace shrugged, "And?" He stopped suddenly, "I already asked Chandra about it."

"You didn't remember that?"

"I did," Jace snapped indignantly.

"Okay," Kaious sighed. He wasn't going to argue with him. "You should sleep," he suggested.

"It's only been thirty seven hours," Jace muttered.

"And you're dragging ass," Kaious pointed out.

"I am not," Jace snapped, "besides I've never been tired after thirty seven hours anyway."

"You're obviously tired now," Kaious stated.

Jace gave him a dry look, "I'm busy."

"You slept a few weeks ago didn't you?"

"So? Chandra would've killed me if I hadn't," Jace snapped.

Kaious laughed, "Are you sure you aren't afraid of her?"

"I just prefer to come out of a conversation in one piece thank you," Jace muttered.

"That's being afraid of her isn't it?" Kaious asked.

"I'm not afraid of her," Jace insisted, "as evidenced by-"

"Who are you not afraid of?"

Jace whirled around to see Chandra and Gideon walking up to him. He looked away, "No one of any importance."

Kaious shook his head and chuckled to himself. He didn't contradict Jace and just watched in amusement.

Gideon gave Jace a doubtful look, "Okay."

Jace rolled his eyes, "Anyway, I was actually on my way to talk to Elspeth."

"You're certainly going to long way around," Gideon pointed out.

Jace shrugged, "I just came from seeing Kaechia and Lilianna."

"Why?" Gideon asked.

"He's paranoid," Chandra shrugged.

"I am not! I was just making sure-"

"They weren't suddenly missing or dead," Kaious muttered.

Jace glared at him, "I was not." He turned and stalked away. The tip of his tail flicked crossly as he disappeared down the street.

"Wait for me!" Kaious cried. He hurried after him.

Chandra burst out laughing.

Gideon just shook his head, "You have way too much fun messing with him."

Chandra shrugged, "If he had a problem with it he'd sulk every time I did it."

Gideon glanced at her, "And you're sure about that?"

Chandra nodded, "Yep."

"How are you so sure about that?" Gideon asked curiously.

"Because. Figuring you guys out is easy as pie," Chandra shrugged. She grinned, "Speaking of which, Shadow makes some of the best apple pie in existence and she's going to be making some tonight."

"Why? It's not like there's anything to celebrate."

"Because I asked," Chandra smirked.

Gideon gave her a quizzical look, "You're plotting something aren't you?"

Chandra grinned, "I've been watching you guys for a little bit. I've noticed that Ral likes cherry flavored pastries, Lilianna prefers chocolate, Kaechia likes plain fruit, Jace likes apple pastries, Elspeth likes light cream stuff and you like sweets with peanut butter in them."

Gideon stared at her, "But-how?"

"As I said. I've been watching you." Chandra skipped ahead, "I know everything!"

Gideon shook his head and jogged after her.

Jace found Elspeth relatively quickly. She was helping Dragon and Falcon rebuild the parts of the inn that were damaged. He was shocked at how mangled the building was. He knew it had been caught but he hadn't expected the Lotus to just let it fall apart like that. He looked into her head and found it was just as confusing as Chandra's. This was the first time he'd ventured into Elspeth's mind. He'd never seen a reason to look into her head. Her mind was confusing in a very methodical and organized way which confused him further. He pulled out of her head, "Never mind. Never mind." He turned to walk away but was called over by Falcon.

"What's up?" Dragon asked.

Elspeth glanced at him. Her eyes glowed knowingly.

He bit his lower lip, "Nothing really."

"So," Elspeth turned to him, "Chandra said you were in the library looking into something."

Jace nodded.

"The Black Lotus have said that we can eat here tonight," Elspeth smiled warmly, "If you could tell the other's that'd be great."

Jace nodded, "Okay." He turned and walked back the way he had come. He found Ral first, "Hey. Apparently something's going on at the Black Lotus Inn and we've been invited."

"Really?" Ral asked in surprise.

Jace nodded. He was amazed at how dutiful and reliable Ral could be when he really wanted to be. He had agreed to help rebuild the city without complaining and hadn't complained yet. _Of course then again this place is his home. _Jace rolled his eyes, "I'm going to go tell the others."

"Have fun Cat Ears," Ral turned back to his work as Jace walked away.

"I hate his stupid nicknames," Jace hissed.

"You haven't complained before," Kaious said.

Jace glanced at him, "That doesn't mean I've liked it."

"Of that I'm aware," Kaious nodded. "There's a lot of things you haven't complained about," the baby dragon gave Jace a hard look, "like being tired."

"I'm not tired," Jace insisted.

"Okay," Kaious sighed, "If you say so."

He found Gideon and Chandra as Chandra was going on to him about how difficult it was to rebuild something when she was better at blowing stuff up. Jace sighed, "Elspeth said there's something going on at the Black Lotus Inn." He looked at Chandra, "I'm sure you're aware of that."

Chandra nodded, "Yep!"

Jace sighed and moved on, "She's insane."

"Who? Chandra?"

Jace nodded.

Kaious shrugged, "Are you complaining?"

"Yes. I am complaining."

"At least it keeps life interesting," Kaious pointed out.

"I'd rather be able to be in the peace and quiet of a library instead of having her yammering in my ear even if I am in a library."

"You say that now but quiet is hard to get used to when you're used to being bugged," Kaious said.

Jace shrugged. He found Lilianna, Kaechia and Kallist working together. _Apparently Kallist has arrived to help out those two. Not surprising since he's rarely more than three yards from Lilianna. _He relayed the message again.

Lilianna rolled her eyes, "Great. I swear if I hadn't seen otherwise I'd think they didn't deserve half the fear and awe their name invokes."

Jace shrugged, "They have to kill time somehow I guess."

Kaechia shook her head, "I can't say I disagree but-"

"So sorry," Lilianna sighed, "I'm astonished by how carefree they can be. Who knew _assassins_ could live without a care in the world?"

Jace shrugged, "That's it. See ya."

"Do you know what they're doing?" Kallist asked.

Jace shook his head, "No." He walked away.

That evening Chandra made sure all of them met up at the inn. She sighed and looked unhappy suddenly.

"What is it now Pyro?" Lilianna asked in harsh mock sympathy.

"I'll have you know that this is for you guys," Chandra snapped.

"Really though, Beautiful," Ral said.

Chandra sighed, "I don't get to partake in any of the fun."

"Why not? And what about this is going to be fun?" Jace asked dryly.

"Says the guy that played messenger," Ral smirked. He wrapped his arm around Jace's shoulder and didn't let him go when he protested.

"I played messenger because Elspeth told me to," Jace snapped harshly. He glared at the lightning mage, "Get off me!"

"No." Ral smirked, "Fuzzball."

Jace's eyes narrowed, "Worm-eating-"

"No," Elspeth said firmly.

Jace glared at Ral, "Let go."

"Good luck," Ral grinned.

Jace bit his lower lip. "Half baked lightning freak," he muttered under his breath.

"Frog-faced bastard," Ral smirked.

"I thought I told you two that was enough."

"Technically you just said no," Jace muttered.

"Oi," Chandra rolled her eyes, "Would you guys just go inside already?"

"Sure," Ral kept his arm wrapped tightly around Jace's shoulders. "You're not getting out of this Cat Ears," he promised as Jace tried to pull out of his grip.

"I could if I wanted to make a scene," Jace hissed.

"But you don't so you're stuck."

Chandra followed them in and disappeared.

"Why are they dressed up in costumes?" Kallist asked.

"It's just something they do," Lilianna shrugged, "Other than that they don't need a reason."

"This would probably be why she was so unhappy," Gideon guessed.

_Last time this happened she ended up ditching it the moment the sun went down. _Jace shook his head. _She also ended up wearing a dress and being in a foul mood for a few days at least. _He bit his lower lip. There wasn't anyone else in the inn at the moment but that didn't mean people wouldn't start walking in later.

It didn't take long for food to be sitting in front of them. Jace ignored most of it but nibbled on a breadstick periodically.

"C'mon Cat Ears. Is that all you're going to eat?" Ral asked.

Jace nodded.

"But-"

Jace silenced him with an icy glare, "This is all I want so I don't wanna hear it."

Ral grinned, "Then I'll eat your share."

"You're going to puke," Jace turned away, "but if you do it's on you."

Ral ignored him.

Chandra growled, "Echo. I'm not wearing a dress again."

"It's not a dress this time," Echo insisted.

"Then what is it?" Chandra was led into a room in the inn. She stopped dead, "You said it _wasn't _a DRESS THIS TIME!"

"I lied," Echo slammed the door closed quickly.

Chandra gritted her teeth, "I hate you _so _much right now. This is even worse than last time."

"They're your friends. You might as well wear it. It's not like they're complete strangers."

"You're not the one that's going to have to deal with _their commentary_!" Chandra snapped harshly. It was an orange dress with gold trimming and it had small wings that appeared to be folded attached to the back. It didn't have any sleeves but had a high collar. Chandra estimated that it would come to her jaw. She growled, "I hate how you guys always have to create things that have damn wings on them. I realize I can fly but this is annoying."

"I didn't design this one," Echo said quickly.

"Then who did?"

"Sea. She said you'd look pretty and she wanted to see it," Echo explained.

_If it was any of the other kids I wouldn't have believed you. _Chandra growled, "I hate you guys so much. I'm never coming back."

"You will once you realize you need our help with something," Echo smirked.

Chandra glared at the closed door that was between the two of them, "Try me."

"You will."

She rolled her eyes, "I hate you." The dress would more than likely fall past her feet. It looked like it'd be tight around the torso and then flare out at the hips. She hadn't even put it on yet and she hated it. She sat on the ground, "I'm not doing it. Let me out."

"C'mon. It's only fair," Echo said, "You've skipped out on the costume events every year for as long as we've been doing it."

"With good reason," Chandra snapped.

"Fine, I'll let you out if you promise you'll put it on after the event so Sea can see you in it," Echo said.

"Deal," Chandra nodded.

"Alright." The door opened and Chandra shot down the stairs. She flopped into an empty chair between Elspeth and Kallist, "That was exciting."

"I thought you were going to-"

"No." Chandra glared at Ral, silencing him quickly.

Jace looked up suddenly, "What's Serra's Lost Treasure?"

"Why?" Elspeth tensed suddenly.

"I just...well..." Jace lowered his gaze uncomfortably.

Elspeth sighed, "It's a highly concentrated form of white mana. Specifically it's holy fire. The longer it exists the more power it accumulates. It's existed for more millennia than either elder dragon has been alive so it's extremely powerful already. It wasn't created by Serra but she was the last known person to know of it's location and nature. That information was therefore lost when she died. To release all of that energy at once would destroy an entire world easily and knocked the worlds around it out of alignment with the multiverse if it didn't destroy those worlds as well."

Everyone stared at her in shock.

"Why?" Elspeth repeated the question.

Jace swallowed nervously, "I...well..." He looked at Chandra, "I think that's what Bolas has been searching for all this time."

Chandra stared at him, "You're serious?"

Jace nodded.

She sighed, "I can't wait for this idiocy to be over already." Her eyes narrowed.

"But what if it never is?" Kallist said, "What then? What if Ugin just keeps-"

"Then we'll destroy Ugin too," Chandra shrugged.

Elspeth stared at her, "What?"

"You say that like it's an easy thing to do," Jace muttered.

"Beautiful...are you sure you're not drunk?" Ral asked.

Chandra gave him an unimpressed glance, "I'm positive."

"I didn't expect even you to come up with something that stupid," Lilianna snapped, "You really have lost it haven't you?"

_Perfect._

Jace looked at Lilianna in surprise. She looked angry at Chandra and showed no signs of the satisfaction that had colored the thought. _Weird. What is-Was it Lilianna? Now I'm confused. _His eyes narrowed. _There's only one way to answer that question. I'll just keep a closer eye on her from now on. _

"No. I'm dead serious," Chandra snapped, "If we can bring down one elder dragon then we can bring down both elder dragons."

"They may have different power levels though," Gideon warned.

"AND?" Chandra took a deep steadying breath, "Would Ugin have repeated the loop _so _many times if he and Bolas weren't evenly matched? Would he have recruited us to clean up his mistakes if he and Bolas weren't evenly matched?"

"You're sick and tired of being a pawn in their chess game," Jace said evenly. His eyes glittered with a small hint of excitement overwhelmed with a much larger amount of anxiety, "So you're adding your own pieces to the table as a third party."

Chandra grinned and nodded.

Sorin Markov shook his head in amusement and annoyance. _Ugin. I warned you long ago not to treat her and her friends like tools unless you wanted the wrath of them all trained upon you. It looks like you didn't head my warning. It's not like I expected you to but a small part of me continually hoped you would for your sake. _"I'm not going to stand in their way. You've brought this upon yourself with your own believed infallibility." He shook his head. _Dragons and their egos. _He chuckled.


End file.
